


If I Had to Perish Twice

by flash_the_geist



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Angst, Author regrets nothing, Changing POV, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I made up a bunch of rules about how the supernatural works just so the Skulls can break them, M/M, Multi, Overuse of italics, Post-Hellbent, author maybe regrets some things, blame the Discord Angst Squad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2019-09-18 01:40:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 35,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16985700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flash_the_geist/pseuds/flash_the_geist
Summary: Friends are not meant to hurt each other. Dying wishes are not meant to go wrong. Dogs are not meant to turn into kitsune.  Spirits of fire and vengeance are not meant to find peace.In which the Mystery Skulls do not do things by the rulebook, but since when has a little thing like 'centuries of knowledge and tradition' stood in their way?





	1. I Think I Know Enough of Hate

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take* on what happens after Hellbent. My brain has come up with a few different scenes, connected by the most tenuous of plot lines and far too many italics. I've no idea how to string them together yet. Let's, uh, see how it goes?
> 
>  
> 
> *This is sheer Dramatic Trope City and I regret nothing**.  
> **Just kidding I regret a lot of things don't judge me _*crawls into a deep hole and grows mushrooms*_

The chase is finally over.

He's woven his path well. He knows its every twist and turn by now. They're right back _here_ , where it all ~~started~~ ended. He hates this place but each time he tries to leave he's inevitably drawn back to it, pacing its curves and lines again and again until he screams with frustration and denied wishes, mind flying apart. This time, though, there's a spark of desperate hope. Maybe now he'll be free? It's so close to being over, to everything being better, to being fixed and _whole again_.

He's angry. It's a blinding, consuming fury that pulses in his heart, in his mind, in his bones. All the things he'd had- _what did he have...?_ -all the things he lost - _who was lost? Was he lost?_ \- all of the fault, laid here at the feet of- _?_ -of this hated, flailing thing. He wants to wring the life out of it. If he can end its life then he can rest. He wants it to stop struggling. He wants it to _stop running_. He wants-

It's reaching for him, cold metal fingers grasping. Metal?

Contact, sudden and burning like frost, and with it comes whirling visions, flashes of fear and shock. The images sit just on the edge of glowingly familiar, beating a rhythm that's golden and happy and kind. He feels his form shift and then the contact brings _grief_. No! This isn't what he wants. The anger _burns_ but the grief is a cold lance of ice to his heart. His eyes narrow-

 _does he have eyes?_

-his eyes narrow at-

"Lewis?!"

He lets go. It's too much it's too _much! whoareyou_ I know you-

He watches the gold and the grief fall away. His world is suddenly and abruptly wrong, not better at all, it hurts _more_ , why didn't the cold go away with it- with _Arthur_? The images won't leave, growing vivid in his mind. His friend, his home, his- he feels a piercing flash of sorrow. There's a sharp cracking noise-

A gunshot-

A deep, threatening growl-

A gleam of lethal spikes-

-and through the onslaught of memory, his rage dying to ash and embers, he thinks, _Lewis. I'm Lewis._ It's a tiny drop of clarity, rippling out and making him reel. He has a name. He has a friend, and a home, and a place he belongs, and a sudden wellspring of _shattering_ grief that quickly gives way to panic-

Arthur hits the floor of the truck.

\-----

...

Damn, his head hurts. What happened? Where is he?

The floor's moving oddly under him. Ah, he's on the floor. It's kind of cold. Arthur tries to push himself up and gets exactly nowhere. Weird. His head hurts, his good hand doesn't want to cooperate, and he doesn't even want to think about the implant. Whatever's going on there is at least a few workshop sessions' worth of fixing and he's absolutely leaving that as future-Arthur's problem.

He pushes again experimentally and gives up when the floor lurches into a sickening tilt. Fine, he'll just stay here until it feels like staying still again. Ugh, why does his head hurt?

" **Stop moving!** "

At the strange echo he tries to open his eyes, encountering nothing but a big blur of pink. It's very close, but trying to bring it into focus makes his vision whirl unpleasantly and he quickly shuts them again. Maybe Vivi or Lewis will come and find him. They'll probably help him. Vivi will order the floor to stay still and then it will _have_ to.

"Where's Lewis?" His voice is a rasping croak, and he coughs to clear it. "...D'you see where...? Been looking f'r him."

" **...stay still, Arthur.** "

"Vivi? Where're you? C'n you come... tell the floor...?" Where was she? Did she stay in the van? He frowns, an unpleasant thought dancing at the edge of his memory. The van was broken again, wasn't it?

Warmth starts creeping into his left side. It's a nice change from the cold floor. It turns to a gentle pressure around his shoulder and he huffs a protest as something prods at the metal joint. He bats it away with his good hand. "Stop, 'll fix later... get Lewis. Found 'im?" he asks the pink blur, cracking his eyes open again.

" **...We did.** "

There's really way too much pink in here. He can't tell if it's the lights that are moving or the floor that's rotating. He groans, and something heavy and warm comes down over his eyes. He sighs in relief as the pink flares are hidden from view, but the sigh quickly turns to a gasp of pain as the world flips over. The pounding in his head increases sharply and he flails out - where did the floor go?

" **Sorry! Sorry, ssh-** "

He's changed his mind. Compared to cruel gravity the floor was actually pretty comfortable and he'd like his spot back, now, please.

" **Stay still- I'm picking you up.** "

Up? Up is definitely making his head hurt but it's probably where Vivi and Lewis and Mystery and the van are. He tries to help, poking with his feet to figure out how standing up works, but a moment later he's swept up and floating... somehow. Oh well, that works too. He gives up his struggles and just holds on. "Don't wanna fall..."

" **I... I won't let you fall, Arthur.** "

\-----

 _Today has been a weird day, even for me,_ she thinks, and smiles wryly. Of all the dying thoughts to have!

The white woman/demon/tree(?) stabs her weapon down, grin manic. Vivi sucks in a breath and prepares to- do something. _Do something!_ Her brain is screaming at her. She's lost her bat and she can't see Mystery or Arthur-

There's a deep snarl from somewhere behind her and a flurry of white and red blitzes past. Vivi goes flying, the weight of something _very large_ pushing her wildly out of the line of fire. She rolls and keeps rolling, the glint of sharp metal points still fresh in her mind, and only stops when she crashes straight into a steel panel. Stunned, Vivi braces herself up against the van's side and takes a moment to lament its state.

There's a cackling shriek and another growl, and then the unmistakeable sound of a _gunshot_ rings out, drawing her attention back to- what is _that??_

The white tree-woman is snarling, a large chunk missing from her side. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to bother her much. Her giant scissors - _scissors, really? There's a terrible pruning pun to make here,_ she thinks hysterically - are coated in red, open in a defensive posture as she stands her ground against -

Oooooh. Is that a _kitsune?!_ She's never seen one before!

The two beings howl and swipe at each other, a whirl of red-white-green that her eyes can barely track. Fang and claw versus giant scissors is really not how she expected this evening to go. It's an even match - the tree-woman's wild swings are brutal, one hit probably meaning the end for her opponent, but the kitsune is a constant blur of motion, dodging and side-stepping each wild thrust with a grace that belies its size.

Caught up by the battle, she jumps about a foot in the air when her bat suddenly appears in front of her face. At the other end is Lance. Lance! Lance with a _gun_ , brilliant idea! That must be why there's a hole in the tree-woman!

"VIVI, what the _hell_ is going on?!" he bellows over the clash of metal and fangs.

"I have no idea!" she bellows back. "Hand me that and go find Arthur!" She makes a grabby motion at the shotgun.

He snorts in derision and shoves the bat at her, turning toward the battle with the gun aimed once more. "Either of those two on our side? I'm guessing not the stabby shrub!"

"I have no idea!" she says again. "Wait, yes. The giant fox pushed me out of the way!"

"Right. _You_ go find my nephew. I've got some questions for him," he says, dry tone not hiding his concern as he gives a cursory glance to where their van is embedded in the wall of Kingsmen Mechanics. Hells.

She hoists the bat, taking comfort in its weight as she surveys their abused van. The driver's side door is swinging open. No Arthur. Her mouth sets in a grim line and she turns toward the truck.

The very large, very spooky, very _purple_ truck. Of course Arthur will be in there. She grimaces and makes her decision. Reluctantly turning her back on Lance and the supernatural duel taking place, she rushes the ghost-truck. Of everyone, she knows Arthur probably needs the most help.

She's halfway there when a gout of pink flame bursts from the truck's door, and then several things happen at once.

The kitsune gives a triumphant howl, finally succeeding in knocking the tree-woman to the ground, tails flaring up like a victory banner. Lance pulls the trigger and a spray of metal flies true, just missing the kitsune. The tree _roars_ , wheeling to face Lance, but then a plume of pink fire goes whizzing past Vivi's face, hurled after the tree-woman's sudden retreat.

Vivi grinds to a halt.

She stares up - _way_ up - at the ghost from the mansion, gulps, and grips her bat tightly. _Uh. I guess I found Arthur._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo, uh, this is the first 'proper' fic (longer than a drabble, anyway) I've ever posted. I've put an excerpt from Chapter 2 up on my [tumblr](https://flash-the-geist.tumblr.com) and I'll probably pop other things up there (unless it implodes in the next few days, in which case I'll look into PillowFort.)
> 
> P.S. Comments make the author's heart glow! :3


	2. Let's Fall Apart Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They got me for misuse of italics. I was fined 800 Oxford commas. They've yet to discover my illegal ellipses stash though so joke's on them

Vivi takes in the odd tableau they make. Some sort of vengeful spectre, she remembers, going by the exposed bones and flamelike ghost-lights, as well as the, uh, _quality_ of the haunting at the mansion. She's read about them before but never seen one, at least up until their recent trip. She's only just started her research into that case but she distinctly remembers reading about the inevitable bloodshed that comes with these kinds of spirits.

This one, though, is - no other word for it - _cradling_ her best friend in its arms. She's no expert in reading things without faces but it seems more despondent than hostile. It's a puzzle, and despite the chaos of the situation the cogs in her mind start turning.

She's torn. She wants to snatch Arthur away from it but that will definitely get its attention, and she really doesn't want to break whatever fragile thread is holding this spirit together. Does it think Arthur's a snack? Did the duel interrupt it? She eyes it tactically, gauging the distance between them. She's reluctant to move in case it snaps out of its strange reverie and decides to... eat him, or whatever it is they do. _Maybe a sneak attack?_ Vivi's subtly looking around to signal Mystery - where the hell is he? - when Arthur finally opens his eyes.

And stares, going rigid with fright. "Oh, _fuck_."

Vivi swings her bat back, ready for the first hint of aggression. If it tries to bite her friend she's going to knock its skull from here to the _moon_.

...The spectre, however, does not bite. It does nothing at all. In fact, it seems to have gone as still as Arthur, their gazes locked together. Vivi hesitates, on edge and uncertain.

"OI! You put my nephew down RIGHT THE HELL NOW!"

All of them jump, and the tension breaks as the spectre, incredibly, does just that, setting Arthur down on the grass with surprising gentleness. It hovers over him almost protectively and Vivi's eyes narrow, scrambled brain ticking overtime. Something here is not adding up at all.

Arthur clamps a hand to his head and scrambles as far as he can from the ghost. He doesn't get very far, which gives her a good indication of his state - she knows full well that if he were capable of it he'd be halfway up the roof by now, which means he's been hurt in the crash. _It hasn't been that long since he recovered from the last time._ Her heart gives a pang at the idea of Arthur hurt again, and she shakes her head and quickly shoves the memories aside.

The spectre stops its intense inspection of her friend and snaps its head eerily in her direction.

 _Okaaay._ Vivi peers at it over her glasses, taking a proper look for the first time. It's... very large, towering over Arthur, illuminating him with a violet glow. Her eyes skip from the spiked protrusions of its ribs to the fanged skull to twin pupils of fire. Overall, extremely creepy and, okay, _maybe_ kind of cool.

It stares back, meeting her gaze but still not moving away from Arthur. It doesn't _seem_ hostile, not at all like before... It had stopped chasing them when they left the mansion, she remembers, adding these pieces to her mental puzzle. How did it get here?

She takes a deep breath and turns to where Lance is glaring warily at the ghost. She should probably distract him before he tries to shoot it, too. How many bullets does a gun hold, anyway? "Lance, now's probably a good time to bust out that big first-aid kit. _You_ ," she points the bat toward the ghost and waits for its eyes to track her, " _if_ you're not going to try to eat anyone, are going to stay _right there_ and _not move an inch._ " She shakes the bat at it threateningly, leaving no room to misinterpret her warning, and then turns to her friend, tone gentling. "Arthur, sit tight, we're gonna fix you up." She kneels between him and the ghost, bat laid warily over her knees as she tries to both keep the spirit in her sights and check Arthur over for injuries.

"And what about me?" a voice asks from behind her, and she freezes. Somehow, she'd _forgotten about the kitsune_.

Vivi cringes, jerking to look back. Up close, the kitsune looks very, very familiar, and very, very sheepish, and _very very much in big trouble._

She takes another deep breath, feeling her confident veneer start to fracture. Too much is happening at once. _One thing at a time, then we freak out,_ she thinks, and exhales. She holds up a finger. "Arthur first." A second finger. "Explanations next." A third. "Absolutely world-class apologies after that." She just can't deal with him right now. Priorities, Vivi. "For now you can keep watch on that," she jerks a thumb at the ghost, "and make sure that tree-woman doesn't come back."

Lance runs over, first-aid kit in hand, brows drawn into a deep V as he takes in his nephew's state. He stoically ignores them all in favour of dropping next to Arthur and tearing apart several packets and bandages, a neat cotton pile gathering in his lap. Lance never does have much time for their "little hobby", as he calls it, and she's impressed at how together he is considering what's literally crashed into his back yard.

Arthur is staring blankly at the sky, face pale and drawn with pain, and doesn't respond, even when Lance starts inspecting the cut on his head.

"...Arthur?" she tries, leaning over him. "You okay there?"

His eyes slowly track over to meet hers, and she winces. Her friend is definitely not having a good day. Bruises are already coming up over one side of his face, and there are several concerning dents in his metal arm. She takes in its unnatural angle and is grateful all over again for the prosthetic's existence. If that had been his real arm...

There's an interrogative hum, and a spark of pink enters her peripheral vision. Lance hisses a warning, barely looking up from his doctoring. The spectre has drifted ever so slowly closer, leaning toward them.

" **...Arthur?** "

Uh, _whoa_. She didn't know it could talk. It's voice sounds subtly distorted, like a recording from an old video. Eerie, glowing eyes swivel between them all, and she suddenly realises it's gauging how close they'll let it come. _That's... oddly intelligent._

"What's your deal, then?" she tilts an eyebrow at it, unimpressed, and curls her hand around the bat handle again.

" **...Lewis. I'm Lewis.** "

Her eyebrows shoot up. "Wait. _You're_ Lewis? Arthur's- _our_ friend Lewis? He neglected to mention you're a ghost!"

"That's 'cos he's not," says Lance.

" **...** "

"Or... he wasn't," Lance adds, glancing up briefly to eye the ghost and sigh before brushing a hand through Arthur's hair. "Ah, kid, I'm sorry. I know you were hopin' to find 'im." There's a crackle of plastic as he unwraps another sterile pad.

" **... _Arthur_ ,**" the ghost calls again.

Arthur blinks at it.

Lance continues to ignore it. "You got concussion at the least, kid, an' you're pretty banged up, but I don't feel anythin' broken," Lance says quietly. "We should get you checked out."

This finally gets a reaction. "No," Arthur snaps. "No more hospitals."

Lance scowls. "Alright, but I get power of veto, yeah? First sign something's wrong, we're going. No arguments." He tosses one last shredded wrapper onto the pile and shifts to stand. "Let's get you inside, at least." He clicks his tongue, shaking his head and checking him over for any missed injuries.

" **Let me,** " says the ghost, and that sparks another, immediate reaction.

" _NO_ ," Arthur shouts, inching back from it- him. "Don't- You're not- you drove us off the _road_ -!" He flings his hand out, pointing shakily at the crashed van.

"He what now?!" says Vivi, low and dangerous. "I thought we crashed because of the tree-woman!" She shoots the ghost an accusing glare.

"Lewis," says Arthur, "why- what _happened?_ I don't- I don't understand." He draws himself up one-handed, wobbling until he's sitting mostly upright. Her friend is shaking, Vivi realises, his shocked silence finally wearing off. What exactly happened in that truck?

The spectre rears back, flaring. " **You know what happened. You know you know you _have to know-_** " Agitated, the ghost (Lewis!) starts repeating himself over and over, reaching out several times only to snatch his hands back. A high-pitched hum, like the whine of a broken machine, comes from somewhere around him, and the air starts to feel close and charged.

Wide-eyed, Arthur shakes his head madly (which has to hurt; of course he has no regard for his concussion). His working hand flies up to pull painfully at his hair.

" ** _-you were there! You- You- You-_** " Lewis shrills, stuck in a loop of words, darts of flame rising from his form and starting to spin ominously. Arthur moans, hunching over his knees to hide his face, and shakes his head again.

"What the-" says Lance, leaning away from the ghost-fire. "Hey, quit that! It's not his fault!"

" **HIS FAULT!** "

The weird hum picks up, the air buzzing. There's a cracking noise and a tiny shard of _something_ drifts down from the ghost's chest, glowing like a star before fading to nothing. Vivi notices a small heart-shape, floating roughly where a real heart might once have been...

 _Oh no... is that his anchor...?_ Vivi looks between them and a snatch of memory makes something click into place in her mind. _What does that text say, again...? "Ghosts are attuned to emotions, in particular those of primal intensity, such as fear and anger."_ The anchor is pulsing arrhythmically, jerking each time Arthur pulls back. It's almost like they're... connected...? _Oh! The more distressed Arthur gets, the more Lewis reacts!_ Quickly, she stands, slamming her hands together in a loud clap.

" _Stop!_ "

Thankfully, the distraction is enough to break the loop. The crackle in the air decreases as they both startle, turning toward her in perfect unison. Vivi swallows a hysterical giggle. "Arthur, take a breath and count to ten," she says, voice low and as soothing as she can make it. She's not sure how much that is, at the moment. "You too... Lewis. Well, the counting at least."

Arthur gives her a dubious look, but plants his face on his knees again. She can hear him muttering as he counts. Lewis stays silent, and sure enough, a few moments later the ghost-lights start to calm, stopping their whirling motions to float idly in the air like fireflies. Arthur lets out a gusty sigh, and Lewis tilts his head toward her forlornly.

"Ghosts, kitsune, and missing memories... Something is obviously going on here." She tries a smile, plastering a cocky expression on her face. "Do you happen to know any experienced paranormal investigators who could look into this? _Oh wait._ " She grins at them.

"Vivi," says Arthur uncertainly, "this isn't exactly..."

"Well, I think that's a fantastic idea." Like before, the deep voice comes from behind her, and she jumps _again_ as said kitsune sashays out from behind the purple truck. "Shall we?"

"Let me help you up, kid," says Lance, and slowly, reluctantly, Arthur nods.

 _That's it_. "Right then, time for step two - some damn good explanations!" _And painkillers. Definitely painkillers._ "Everyone into the shop!" Vivi shoots a glare at ghost, Kingsmens, and patrolling kitsune alike, then gathers her bat and the first-aid kit and marches them all into the workshop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing Vivi, she's gonna organise the heck out of all of you losers. Buckle up.
> 
> I hope this was a good follow-up. I've been tinkering with this chapter for days so I'm posting it early. Then I might actually get to Chapter 3 where we'll be getting more of Lewis' POV!
> 
> P.S. Comments keep the author's scissors sharp!


	3. End in Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there was going to be fluff in this chapter but then the Discord Angst Squad got hold of me and... well.

He's finally, _finally_ out of the cave.

Everything around him seems to glow with familiarity. The workshop benches, the old toolboxes, last year's battered phone book propping up a lopsided shelf.

Arthur.

_Vivi._

His mind feels like a blur, interspersed with fragments of hyper-vivid memory. His heart is a block of too-still ice. It hurts. He'd forgotten what hurt was.

Remembering it shouldn't feel like such a relief.

He glances down at his heart, but doesn't touch. It feels dangerously fragile.

"So," Vivi is saying. She's got her eyes closed, fingers steepled in front of her, tone matter-of-fact. _This is not a good sign_ , his fractured memory whispers.

"Let's recap. I just want to, you know, make sure we're all on the same page here." She folds her arms, bat still in her lap, chin tilted stubbornly up toward the ceiling. "We were on the way home when a _haunted truck_ , containing one ghost," her eyes fall on Lewis, "chased us down the road and drove us off the side of the hill. At some point during this, a mysterious tree... demon... thing, attacked us to get to _you_ ," her eyes flick to the fox-demon. _Mystery,_ comes the memory. _Not a dog?_

Mystery coughs softly.

"Then," she continues, "the truck followed us down, we crashed, Mystery _turned into a kitsune_ to have it out with the tree-woman, and Arthur _disappeared_."

Arthur, curled up on the sofa in a ball of misery, doesn't look up.

" _Then_ our _missing friend_ pops up out of nowhere - with Arthur - and chases off the tree-woman. Oh, and he turns out to be the ghost from our recent investigation."

"Right, I'm gonna go... make some hot chocolate," Lance mutters, and makes a beeline for the kitchenette out back. "Don't let Arthur go to sleep. I'm gonna check on you later, kid!"

"Oh, he won't be leaving my sight," Vivi says sweetly.

Lewis, still hovering next to Arthur, sees the wince that produces. He can't bring himself to move away - he's not sure how he knows, but it's important to stay close. Unfortunately, now that Arthur is more aware it's obvious he's deeply discomforted by Lewis' presence. He's rigid, eyes shut tight, flinching at the slightest movement.

He can _feel_ Arthur's pain, that he's heartsore and weary. It unsettles something in him. He doesn't want him to be in pain... does he? Wasn't he hellbent on being the cause of it, earlier? He's so confused...!

"Lewis."

With effort, he turns from Arthur to look at Vivi.

Her clothes are a rumpled mess, her hair sticking up and full of grass. An icepack is slapped over one shoulder, and her free hand digs in the first-aid kit, coming up with a small bottle of pills.

...She's beautiful.

She feels... muffled, but he can sense confusion, relief, and... anger. His shoulders droop.

His heart _aches_.

"Why did you chase us off the road?"

That's an easy one, at least. " **You wouldn't _stop running_.**"

She frowns. "What did you do to Arthur?"

He feels himself start to coil up, tension making him hum. " **Arthur-! I needed him. I- I needed him to _leave_**."

"To leave the mansion?"

No, no, how to explain? " **I needed him so I could LEAVE-** "

"Okay, okay! Easy there."

He descends to the floor again - _when had he gotten so close to her?_ \- he's supposed to stay near Arthur, it's important. His _heart-_

He curls around it, sheltering it with a hand, and Vivi makes a sudden noise of understanding. 

_Vivi..._

Fighting all his instincts, he shakily plucks the heart from his chest and offers it to her. _It wouldn't be the first time..._

No one pulls her away this time. She takes it hesitantly, cupping her hands around it like it's something precious, and oh-

 _Oh..._ That's _much better_. The ever-present ache dulls, the high-pitched humming in his bones turning from an angry buzz to a low thrum. He floats down, feet planting on the floor with an audible thud.

"Huh." Her thumb moves in gentle, calming strokes over his battered heart. It opens at her touch, and she cocks her head curiously at the faded pictures within.

...He wants so desperately to smile at her.

Mystery's long muzzle pokes curiously at her hands. "Hm. That's not good."

"You know, Arthur's told me a lot about you." She pushes Mystery gently away, carefully folding the locket back together.

He tips his head in confusion, unsure what she means.

Back, forth, back, glides her thumb, and she hums softly. "You don't know, do you? You don't know my memories are gone."

His heart gives a stuttering lurch, and he staggers. _What?_

"I guess whatever happened that day was a doozy, huh? None of us got away unscathed- whoa!"

His knees hit the floor. _She doesn't remember- me? Us? That cursed night-?_ " **V-vivi-!** "

The icepack falls unheeded as she flings herself down beside him. "Ssh, ssh, it's alright... I'll explain," she soothes, covering a widening crack with her hand. "We've been looking for you, see? After that day - after the hospital, when Arthur realised something was wrong... he went a bit crazy for a while there." She glances at Arthur, but the blond doesn't look up. "I thought he was mad, going on about this imaginary friend, but then the Peppers showed up and I started getting these _headaches_..."

He focuses on her voice, on her face, reaching out to touch her cheek. Her other hand comes up to cover it, and she smiles at him weakly.

"Hey there. You with me?"

He's... not sure.

"You must try to stay calm, Lewis," Mystery says.

"Hang in there. We're gonna sort this out, okay? All four of us. Nice and easy." Vivi pats his hand with her small fingers.

He nods tentatively.

"Right. Okay, so... let me start from the beginning." She squeezes his hand gently. "When we woke up in the hospital, a whole chunk of our memories were gone. And... Arthur remembered you and I... didn't." She chews her lip, eyes searching his.

He clings to her desperately. It's so hard to _think_... " **Don't... don't let me go...** "

Her grip tightens. "I won't, we won't... we've got you, Lewis. I know who you are," she starts to babble, "Arthur told me everything about you, about us- your family, and our team, and he made me this photo album, it was so cute-"

Lewis looks at Arthur, balled up on the sofa. He's a twisted cloud of grief and pain, refusing to look up, and with a sharp jolt he feels his heart crack again.

"-and he's the one who figured out that telling me stories stopped the migraines- anyway, yeah, we've finally found you after all this time and we _won't let go, okay?_ "

Arthur... looking for him? Telling Vivi stories? Making a photo album? " **...Arthur?** "

Vivi nods, patting his hand. "Yeah. You remember him, right? We thought maybe your memories had been messed with too."

" **He... did all that? Why...?** "

"Be...cause he's your friend? Artie, you wanna jump in here?"

There's a beat of silence, but Arthur still doesn't respond. Only the twining threads of _sorrow-grief-despair_ radiating from him show that he's aware at all. _Why won't he look at me?_ A strange urge rises in him, to curl around his friend, pry into his thoughts-

Vivi sighs. "At least _one_ of you has to explain. What did you do to him while you were in that truck?"

" **......I wanted him to fall. Like he made me fall.** "

Her face screws up in confusion. "Why are you so angry with him?"

He draws back his hands, skeletal fingers curling up into fists. " **I love him. I hate him. He's my family. He killed me. He'd never hurt me. He did this. It's _his fault-_** " he stops short at Arthur's strangled gasp, his friend finally daring to raise his head.

"Lewis," Vivi interrupts him gently, "that doesn't make sense." She cups his heart, still soothing him, a press of warmth against his being.

Mystery steps forward delicately and coughs again. "Actually... it does."

Three sets of eyes turn to him, and his lip curls slightly, flashing a bit of fang in a wry canine smile. His tails wave idly as he cocks his head, regarding them all.

"It's true that Arthur would never hurt Lewis. It's also true that he is... indirectly responsible... in a manner of speaking... for Lewis' death."

Vivi, eyes wide as saucers, snaps her head around to stare at Arthur.

Arthur gives Mystery a look of absolute betrayal. " _What? ...How?_ I'd _never_ -"

He has to _know-_ " **WHY DID YOU DO IT?!** " At his shout, the lights in the house flicker with a harsh buzz.

"Do _what?_ " Arthur wails.

"Do you remember, Lewis, why you were investigating the cave?" Mystery asks calmly.

"... _What_ cave?" Arthur's hand pulls painfully at his hair again, and Vivi gives him a shrug, nonplussed.

Lewis stares hard at Mystery, and an itch in the back of his mind unfurls into a shard of memory - dim evening light, the smell of gasoline, and an uneasy voice: _'blue moon... into the forest... never seen again...'_

" **There were... there were... stories. People gone missing in the woods.** "

"That's right," Mystery says softly.

"We _searched_ the forest after we found the van there," whispers Arthur, and Lewis feels another sharp pang of _horror-fear-grief_ that isn't his own. "It was the first place we looked-"

"The cave only appears once in a blue moon," Mystery sighs regretfully. "It's an ancient binding spell - and once I got a whiff of it I should have realised what might be waiting inside. By the time I acted..." His eyes seem to glow, reflecting the light as he looks them all over, and then he bows his head gracefully. "I hope you can forgive an old fox his hubris."

Slowly, Lewis swivels his gaze back to Arthur.

He's white as a sheet. "N...no..."

Mystery sighs again, ears pulling back to lie flat. "I'm afraid so. A demon. The cave was practically _steeped_ in its energy." His bares his teeth in distaste, and Arthur flinches back. "How long it has been there possessing the hapless souls who discover it, I don't know, but clearly long enough to... refine its technique." His eyes drift apologetically to Arthur's mangled arm.

Arthur claps his hand over his mouth. "O-oh _god_..." His voice cracks, and Lewis feels it in his _bones_.

Vivi lets out a startled yelp as he leaps toward Arthur and grabs him before he can backpedal off the sofa. Pinning him down, he curls one hand around the back of his neck.

Contact.

Just like before, it burns like cold fire.

His mind is whirling. He has to _know_ \- " **Why? Why? WHY?!** "

Arthur _screams_ , kicking out wildly to get away, his arm flung over his head in meagre defence. There's a sudden commotion behind him, and Lewis' grip tightens as he bears down, knocking the hand away, mind reaching out toward the tangle of _fearregret_ , demanding an answer mentally and physically.

He realises his mistake when he feels the echoing sparks of _fear_ ignite into _terror_ , pulsing into his mind like lightning. It's like a dam breaks; Arthur's devastation _floods_ through the strange mental connection he's forced between them, sweeping his fury away under a tide of grief and horror. He can't bear it, he's cracking apart, helpless under the emotional storm-

_Arthur!_

Arthur's eyes are screwed shut, breath coming in panicked starts, and Lewis is suddenly hyper-aware of his friend's heartbeat, fluttering like a dying bird in his bruised chest.

_Wait... no... Arthur!_

He catapults backwards, away from _terror_ and _despair_ but it's far too late - it's seeped into his bones, overwhelming and freezing him from the inside, stealing sense and reason from his mind, an unstoppable rake of icy claws.

" **N-no, no, this isn't- isn't what I want-!**

Clutched in Vivi's hands, his heart _splinters_ , a sickly grey glow emanating from its battered form as the rifts meet and bisect it completely.

" _Lewis, stop-!_ "

With a last violent pulse, it shatters into pieces, slipping through Vivi's fingers like dying stars.

Every light in the house bursts.

Lit by whirling motes of pale fire, Lewis howls in agony and explodes into fragmented sparks, dissipating into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~ok so pls recall I've tagged this 'Fluff'~~
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> P.S. Comments make the author resolve cliffhangers faster...? >_>;


	4. Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a little bit to find Arthur's voice again...

" _Seven hells,_ " Vivi shrieks, scrambling in the dark, fingers scrabbling on the floor and coming up empty. "Get a torch, I can't _see_ , where- where are the pieces?"

 _She's crying,_ Arthur thinks dully. _I should help her._ He feels strangely calm, staring into the space where Lewis was.

Uncle Lance bursts through the door, torch in hand. "What the devil just happened to the lights?"

"He- he- oh, I'm an _idiot_ , why did I let him-" Vivi sobs, still patting around frantically on the floor. Uncle Lance leans over her, and In the pale torchlight Arthur can see that there's no sign of the heart - or any of its fragments.

"It was Lewis," Arthur explains to his uncle. "He... exploded."

"He _wha-_ "

Vivi jolts up to look at him. "What was he trying to- are you hurt?"

Arthur thinks about that a moment before answering. "I don't think... no." He raises his hand to his neck. "If he was trying to strangle me, he went about it all wrong," he muses.

His uncle squints and turns the torch beam on him. "You alright, kid?!"

"...Yeah," Arthur says slowly, "Actually, I feel... okay? I think he pulled the panic right out of me."

The torch beam runs up and down as Lance checks him over once more. "How's the head?"

Arthur prods gingerly at his bandages and winces. "...Sore."

"Vivi, dear," Mystery's bent low, peering up into her face. "It's alright, we can-"

"It's _not alright_ , his anchor, it just-" she sits up on her knees, stopping her searching in favour of knocking her head with a balled hand. "Stupid, stupid woman-"

"Dear-"

Arthur frowns and slides gracelessly off the sofa, landing next to her and catching her hand in his. "Stop that. Won't he just... come back? Like before?"

" _No_ ," she snaps, and Arthur feels a distant prickle of panic. "That was his anchor! Without it-"

She stops abruptly as there's a long, low rumble. They all look around, squinting in the dim light. _I don't think that's an earthquake..._ The rumbling grows louder, all the cabinets, the shelves, even the windowpanes starting to rattle ominously.

There's a few moments of tense silence as they crouch on the floor together, glancing around warily. A screwdriver rattles off a nearby bench, dropping to the floor with a clatter, and rolls over to Mystery.

Mystery inspects it curiously, then gives them all a serious look. "That was _not_ his anchor." His voice is unnaturally loud in the darkness, and at his words the rumbling stops.

"It... wasn't?" Vivi asks faintly.

"No, not at all."

"Then... where is it? _What_ is it?"

Mystery huffs a short, sharp laugh. "You."

Vivi blinks rapidly in the torchlight. "Huh??"

"And Arthur too, of course."

Arthur frowns in confusion, squinting at the large, many-tailed shadow that is their not-dog. "Me? But I... He thinks..."

"Do you think mere metal and paper could hold a spirit that strong? No, dears, I can see the connections very clearly - frayed, but there." Mystery curls his lip in a strange smile. "He's quite soundly tethered to the here-and-now through you two."

As though this little speech is a signal, there's a loud _thunk_ and the screwdriver jumps across the floor.

Vivi looks down at her empty hands, and Arthur can't help but follow her gaze. "But..."

"Look," says Lance, and sighs. "Let's fix up the lights and have that chocolate. No point scrambling round in the dark. Then you can go back to doing _whatever it is_ you're doing." Arthur feels a flash of affection for his uncle's relentless practicality.

"A sound idea," Mystery says approvingly, "but we'll have to be somewhat fast. Lewis' manifestation will grow stronger as time passes, moreso with you two in the same room."

Uncle Lance makes the _harrumph_ noise usually reserved for troublesome customers. "Maybe I'll only fix a few of the lights then, in case he's not done _exploding things_ yet."

"Um, Mystery," Arthur says, feeling oddly self-conscious at asking questions of Vivi's _pet_ , "what did he just do? Was that... my fault? I feel, well..." he tips his hand back and forth. "...steadier than I should?"

Vivi cocks her head, humming thoughtfully. "I think he's almost as confused as we are. I mean, it's a lot to take in. I guess he just... wants answers for what happened to him?" She chews her lip. "If what Mystery says is true, he probably spent a lot of time thinking you..."

Arthur sinks his head in his hands. "Oh god, no wonder he hates me."

There's a loud _chink_ , and they both swivel to look at the front window as a small spiderwebbing crack arcs up from the corner of the glass.

"Waitwait," says Vivi, tugging at her scarf in agitation. "Oh, come on brain, _think_ \- ghosts with mobile anchors, not tied to a place, how do they manifest- damn it!" She yanks a bit harder. "I need that book! I'm so _tired_ of not knowing things!" She gives Mystery a short glare.

"Chocolate first," Lance insists, picking up the abandoned ice pack and plopping it back on Vivi's shoulder, "and you, kid! Get back on that sofa and rest that head of yours!"

"Yes, Uncle Lance," they chorus, Mystery included, and very shortly he and Vivi are curled up together on the sofa, cookies and steaming cups in hand, shooting each other worried looks while Lance bustles around cursing at the lamps.

\-----

Arthur gives Mystery a long look. He's not sure what to make of this _kitsune_ development - _Vivi didn't know?_ \- but this new, persistent feeling of calm has wrapped around him, leaving him cautious but not fearful. _Plus,_ the logical part of his brain reminds him, _he's been with you for how long? Slept on the foot of your hospital bed how many times? If he was dangerous, you would have found out years ago, when he ate you or something._

"Alright dear," Mystery, curled at Vivi's feet - and a fair way around the sofa - tips his head up to look at her. He doesn't look very fierce, tiny glasses perched on his nose and a somewhat petulant expression still on his canine features ("Chocolate isn't good for dogs," Lance had rumbled, and set a bowl of water down for him.) "In this field at least you have more knowledge than I. Think back to your studies and move forward from there."

Vivi takes a long sip of chocolate. "Well, he looks like a vengeful ghost - that's a kind of subset of spectral entities," she adds for Arthur's benefit. "He can clearly talk, which is weird-"

"Can he hear us?" Arthur cuts her off, glancing up at the ceiling, half-expecting to see swirls of pink fire.

"Umm. I don't think so - if we're his anchors, then he's still here? But... formless, I guess? Like a poltergeist."

"Please tell me the walls aren't 'bout to start bleeding like some Amityville horror," Lance grumbles, screwing a new light globe into a lamp. Like most people in the modern age, he's chosen to mostly ignore all supernatural activity in favour of leaving it to the unofficial 'Mystery' teams dotted around the country. Arthur's desperately grateful that he's stuck with them this far. _Probably worried I'll break my head open if he turns his back for another minute_ , he thinks, and sighs. Given how this day has gone so far, his uncle's not worried for nothing.

"Nnnno," says Vivi, "and that wasn't a real haunting anyway."

"Hmph."

"That heart, though." Vivi glances down at her hands and swallows roughly, hurriedly taking another drink. "It's obviously important, even if it's not his anchor- oh!"

Arthur, sneaking a cookie to Mystery, jumps.

"I'm going to fetch that damn book as soon as possible, but I'm _pretty sure_ it's a... focus?"

"Oh, right, a focus," Arthur nods wisely, completely clueless.

"Yeah. If he's anchored to us but we weren't around, he probably made a substitute. Oh, Arthur... he's been trapped alone for so long! No wonder he's all mixed up!"

Arthur stares hard into his cup as he digests that. Finally taking a drink, he nearly spits it back out at the sudden bite of chilli hidden in the chocolate.

Lewis' recipe.

His stomach drops, and it isn't from the chilli. The thought of his best friend, dying, _dead_ , stuck in some cave, unable to get out... Thinking about it makes him feel sick. _But he's here now. He found us. I have to help him._ "What do we do? How do we fix this?" he looks at Vivi, setting his jaw firmly.

She chews her lip. "We could make another one? It'd have to be really, ah, symbolic. Ghosts are ninety percent emotion and ten percent memory, really. Nostalgia's a whole-" she flaps a cookie in the air, "-thing."

"Right," says Arthur. "Right. I can do that. I can build things no problem." His head pounds, but it's nothing to the heartache he feels. _Finally, a problem I can do something about! Let's see... metal, shape, cut, solder, panels..._ Mind finally getting into gear, he sets his cup on the floor, scoops up the screwdriver and pulls his mangled implant into his lap. Digging his fingers into the elbow joint, he yanks up the plating with a shrill screech of metal.

" _Arthur!_ " The protest comes in stereo - Vivi and his uncle are both staring at him aghast.

"...What? It's not like I can fix it, anyway, I'll have to start again. And... you said symbolic, right?" He glances at Vivi, who nods slowly. "Well, I'd give my left arm to have Lewis back."

Vivi stares at him a moment longer, then tackles him in a sudden hug, making him wheeze in surprise. He's suddenly grateful beyond words for her friendship, her ever-reliable strength, her trust in him.

"I'll help ya, kid-" his uncle starts.

"No. No. I have to do it. I have to make up for... for what happened." Arthur sets his mouth in a stubborn line, pushing back the ache in his heart. _Enough falling apart. You have to help Lewis._

Vivi catches his hand. "We'll do it together, Arthur. Symbolic, right? Plus, uh... you only have one hand."

He waves that aside, determination rising in him now that he has a problem to solve, patterns and materials flashing up in his mind's eye. "Tell me what we need. Did you get a good look? Before it..."

"Y-yeah. Yeah!" Vivi nods, shaky but determined. "It was a locket, curved like this," she cups her hands together, "with two photos inside. One was of him and me, the other was... too faded to see, but I bet my right buttcheek it's you two."

He huffs a small laugh. "We never bet against you, Vivi. Okay, so... I can make the case and a chain with this." He taps the metal plates, poking the screwdriver under the surface and tugging out a length of gear chain. "We'll need glass for the panels and... and some photos."

Wordlessly, Vivi pulls off her glasses and unceremoniously snaps the frames in half, sliding the lenses out and handing them over. "Will that do?"

He sets them out in his lap, and the faint tint of the twin lenses glint up at him like a pair of pink eyes... "Um. Yeah. That'll work."

Uncle Lance sets his toolbox down near his elbow and carefully ruffles his hair, giving him that familiar, patient look. Arthur nods at him.

Mystery cocks his head, as though he can hear something the rest of them can't. "Best work fast." Lance picks up his stack of broken light globes and continues his circuit of the room, and Arthur catches his soft mutter of _talking foxes, what next?_.

He digs through his toolbox, coming up with a claw hammer and angling its teeth into the workings of his arm. "Vivi, go get the photo album? I'm going to get started." Gritting his teeth, he braces himself and sets to work peeling off dozens of articulated plates.

\-----

"There," Vivi says, wrapping the last few bits of blue yarn, plucked from her scarf, around the delicate gear chain and securing it tightly. She holds up their labour of love - a little unpolished, the hinges slightly lopsided. Arthur notices that the bruises on Vivi's right thumb match one of the mangled screws perfectly.

"Are you _sure_ those are the photos he'd want?" Arthur asks again, slightly regretting delegating this task to Vivi. He should know better, he _knows_ what she's like.

"Listen, I've stared at that photo album for _hours_ this past year. Those two are the ones that came closest to sparking a memory for me. I think they're right."

Arthur snaps the locket closed with a small click, hiding the images from view. "How long do you think-"

There's a lightning-fast flash of ghost-fire and Lewis is suddenly in front of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled a little bit with this chapter until I realised my brain had skipped a bit too far ahead in the scenes. Eh, on the bright side, I now have a lot of chapter 5 ready? So that should be up faster.  
>   
>  ~~Trust me it'll be fine~~  
>   
>  P.S. Comments turn the author's hair blue!


	5. It Will Suffice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so I did a stack of story-mapping and I think this will be around ten chapters? I have an actual end goal in mind, yay me!

When awareness returns they're standing in front of him, golden and blue.

 _This is new_. He feels blurrier than he usually does when he comes aware again. Normally it takes a few circuits of the paths and the pain before he's far enough gone for them both to show up...

"Welcome back, Lewis," Vivi steps forward, something glinting in her hands. "We made something for you."

 _This is... very new_. He looks around slowly, admiring the illusion. During his interminable time in the cave it's taken the appearance of many things, but never something like this before, not that he can remember.

"Lewis?" Vivi takes another step toward him, holding something out. He focuses back on them both, studying their faces intently. They're very good likenesses, though it's skipped Vivi's trademark glasses again. She's slightly blocking his view of Arthur, who seems to be staring at the floor. She feels-

 _She feels real_ , he suddenly realises, a cold clench of hope stopping his- wait. He reaches up to his chest. What happened to-?!

" **Where...?** "

They shoot each other unreadable looks, and now Arthur's taking his own small step forward - _he... feels real too?!_. "We're at Kingsmen Mechanics, Lewis."

He looks around again, not quite believing. It really does look like the shop. " **How did it get in the cave?** " There's the rows of shelves, the usual scattered tools and scrap, Arthur's uncle-

_Uncle Lance?!_

He's _never_ hallucinated anyone else before. He floats up a few inches in shock, staring hard at the man in disbelief.

"Ooookay, I'm gonna leave you all to it," Lance says, looking a little unnerved, and sidles towards the door. "Try not to explode anything else, alright?" The door closes behind him with a loud click.

"Hey, we're not in a cave," Vivi says slowly. "Don't you remember chasing us? Grand theft auto? The Fantastic Mr. Fox? Murderous foliage? Mystery's off patrolling for her again-"

" **...not... not in the cave?** " He pats at his chest, frantically looking around on the floor. _Where-?!_

"Not in the cave," Arthur repeats, a sad frown on his face. There's a shadow of _sorrow_ around him - he's never felt that from a hallucination before.

He feels the stabbing ache in his bones growing steadily stronger, and instinctively reaches up yet again, only to grasp empty air. " **Where is it?!** " He feels hazy, half-formed-

"Uh, Vivi? Give that to him, _now_. I think-"

Vivi darts forward and shoves the object into his hand.

Distracted, he holds it up, tracing a familiar-unfamiliar shape. It makes him shiver oddly, like he should know what it is. _Metal?_

"It's for you, Lewis," Arthur edges a bit closer, gazing intently at the puzzling object. "We made it to help you. It's a bit... well, we did our best?"

He inspects it again. _Oh, it's a heart._ It's not anything like his sad, broken thing. This one is heavy, sturdy metal, with fine seams curving across the surface, almost undetectable. A slender chain with a bright blue core is attached through a small loop at the top.

 _For me?_ He turns it over and over.

It feels strongly of _them_.

His fingers find a notch at the edge, and it opens at his touch. He stares at the fuzzy pictures uncomprehendingly, and they slowly come into focus.

 _Vivi._ Her smiling face is in profile, laughing in delight. They're posed together in a restaurant booth, food in their hair, a toppled milkshake puddle on the table in front of them. His own face is utterly rapt, staring at her in raw affection as she beams up at him. There's a strand of spaghetti hanging over her ear.

He... remembers this. It was their official third date, a _spectacular_ disaster, and they'd both agreed afterwards that it was perfect - they wouldn't change a thing.

He holds the heart a little closer. It's like the room sharpens, the hazy feeling fading into background static. Hungrily, he turns to the other picture.

 _Arthur._ He and Arthur are curled up asleep together, squashed in the back of the van. Arthur, hair wild, is draped over his chest, and Lewis' arm is curled around him, hand tucked under the hem of his shirt. It's a very candid shot, the angle slightly lopsided, and he can practically see Vivi's knowing smirk on the other side of the camera. It was their first 'proper' road trip together, he remembers, some music festival in the next town? 

It's like his mind is a radio suddenly tuned to just the right frequency. A golden glow radiates from between his fingers. It feels _right_.

The cave could never fake something like this.

He looks up, meeting their anxious gazes. " **...Vivi. ...Arthur.** "

Vivi beams at him, turning a triumphant grin on Arthur and chirping, "Told you so! He likes it!"

He can't hold back anymore - he reaches out to her. " **Am I really... really out? Promise?** "

"Oh, Lewis... you are. You got out, and you tracked us down, and you're here with us now." She takes his hovering hand in one of hers, curling the other over his fingers, reinforcing his grip on the now-pulsing heart. "We said we won't let go, don't you remember?" He thinks he might, memories rising now the hazy feeling has cleared.

" **Vivi. You're real. You're _real_. It's been so long...**" He holds her close oh-so gently, carefully burying his face in her blue locks. She wraps her small arms around him, standing on tiptoe to run her hands over his arms reassuringly. She's a muffled but warm sparkle of _energy_ and _relief_ , and he soaks up her comfort, letting it warm him through. The ever-gnawing ache suddenly seems more distant. " **I missed you. I missed you both.** "

There's a choked noise from behind them, and they both turn to see Arthur scrubbing at his face. "S-sorry, it's just- have you been trapped in there this _whole time_? God, that's _horrible_ -"

"You sit back down, you still have a concussion," Vivi orders, and he obeys with a sigh, collapsing back onto the sofa and holding his head. _Concussion?_ Memory continues to trickle in, and he has a bad feeling he's at fault for their dishevelled appearance.

"Lewis," Arthur says, voice strained, "do you- do you think I-"

Lewis feels an echo of a familiar emotion, jarring like a drift of snow on a summer day, and a curl of memory unfolds. " **This grief... I felt it before. It's... for me.** "

"I'm _sorry_ , Lewis. I'm _sorry_. I'm-" Arthur muffles another strangled sob.

"Oh, Artie..." Vivi sighs sadly.

Lewis floats over the sofa, reaching out, and the motion feels so familiar-

 _Oh! ...Oh._ He remembers. Mystery had said- and he had- _Oh no._

Drawn in again by the sound of his friend's rapid heartbeat, he puts a hand on Arthur's chest to feel it, pulling him closer when he tries to shrink away. The reminder of before, when it had beat so dangerously wild, gentles his motions. He runs a thumb delicately under Arthur's eye and here, too, feels the echoes of pain, tracing them to his friend's many bandages and inspecting the wounds with a light touch.

Arthur's gone completely still. "L-Lewis-"

Vivi leans against his side, reaching around him to pat Arthur's shoulder. "Breathe, Artie, he's not going to hurt you."

"Couldn't blame him," Arthur chokes out, "it'd only be fair-"

" _No_ , Arthur. In fact, if you want to make it up to him I think you should give him a hug."

"... _What?_ "

"You heard me. You two are going to hug this out before it kills one of you." She immediately winces and flicks him an apologetic look. "Permanently, anyway." She stares at them both expectantly.

Arthur stops trying to inch away, instead eyeing Lewis.

Lewis eyes him back.

Vivi sighs. "Why are boys so useless? Here, Artie, let me test the theory once and for all," she says, and takes the locket from him, draping the chain over Arthur's head and settling it to hang just over his heart.

Arthur, refusing to break his wary watch on Lewis, unthinkingly reaches up and grabs it.

" ** _Ah!_** " says Lewis, and slumps over, collapsing onto him.

 _...Oh... oh_ , it's _indescribably better_.

The terrible, constant ache is suddenly a mere knot of discomfort, and something deep within him relaxes, something he hadn't realised was close to snapping. He lies silent for a moment, processing the sudden absence of pain.

"Better?" Vivi asks smugly, rubbing his shoulder in soothing circles.

" **Hhrrrn.** " Drifting, he curls into Arthur, burying his head into his shirt to listen to the heartbeat under his ear, making the man jump in surprise.

Lewis can hear Vivi's wide grin in her voice. "I knew it! You're connected to both of us, so contact should help stabilise you. No wonder you keep making grabby hands at Arthur, your instincts must be screaming!" She reaches out to poke Arthur's good shoulder, recapturing his attention from where he's gaping down at Lewis. "Can you breathe under all that ghost?"

"I... yes?" Arthur sounds incredulous and far too high-pitched. "Like... he's there, but... not?"

"Good! Let him sit there for a bit while you hold onto that, okay? Be gentle!"

Arthur carefully sets the locket down to hang against his chest. "I doubt he wants me wearing it, Vivi."

" **Yes. No. Yes,** " Lewis mutters, barely aware of the conversation happening above his head.

"I think you should. It seems to help if one of us does, but for some reason it works a bit better if it's you."

"Vivi, he's _your boyfriend_."

"Mm, so you tell me. Maybe it's more effective because you can actually remember him?"

Lewis feels like he's floating. _Of course I am,_ he thinks idly, _I'm always floating._ He tries to refocus. There's something important he's meant to do... ah, that's it. He's supposed to stay close to Arthur. Or was he supposed to kill him? Why would he do that, again...?

Arthur's arm wraps around him, patting him gingerly on the back.

...Whatever. He doesn't feel like killing anything right now. He's missed his friends, and they're so warm... He hums contentedly, enjoying the pleasant thrum that's replaced the angry buzz in his bones. Maybe they're not meant to hurt?

Vivi giggles. "Wow, I didn't know ghosts could purr."

Lewis lifts his head slightly, peering up at where she's perched on the arm of the sofa, smiling a very pleased smile. Reaching out again, he curls a hand gently around her wrist, searching for her feather-light pulse. It's steadier than Arthur's, strong and reassuring.

He turns to Arthur and finds he's side-eyeing him, pale and looking ready to bolt. Once more he feels the faint echo of fear, and Lewis' heart sinks.

Startled, Arthur glances down at the locket.

" **Arthur?** "

"Y-yeah, Lew?" Arthur's gaze darts away and then back.

" **...I'm sorry.** "

Arthur's grip tightens, fingers wrinkling the fabric where they're clenched in his jacket, but he can feel the rest of him relax slightly. "Me too, bud."

" **You're afraid.** "

A defensive huff. "Yeah _well_ \- you're a lot bigger than you were, as if that was necessary. Also... pointier."

"Totally," Vivi says. "Wonder how that all works?" She gives a sudden yawn, and blinks rapidly, squinting at the cracked window. "Oh look. It's dawn."

The room has indeed grown steadily brighter, and in the new light he can see how tired they both look, shadows under their eyes. " **Rest?** " he asks hopefully. If he can get them to stay put for a while...

"Can't," Arthur mumbles, catching Vivi's yawn and giving a jaw-cracking one of his own, "got concussion."

Lewis feels a flash of guilt - his own, this time. He cups the back of Arthur's head, concentrating for a moment. " **You're not bleeding.** "

"How can you tell?" asks Vivi.

" **I can tell.** " He's not sure he can explain _how_. " **You don't have any open wounds.** "

Arthur makes a very strange face. "I feel like I should be really disturbed by that, but I'm not gonna think about it and just be really glad I don't have to go to hospital."

"Great," Vivi grunts, rising. "Now that no one's exploding or freaking out, let's go the fuck to sleep. Mystery will wake us if the stabby tree comes back." She wriggles herself in next to Arthur, filling the space between him and the back of the sofa and settling into the narrow gap with a liberal application of elbows. "Right now I don't care where I sleep, I just gotta."

Lewis quickly hooks an arm around each of them. " **Please don't let go.** "

"Relax, I'll only let go if you dump me on the floor, and then that's the _least_ of your problems." Shifting awkwardly in the tiny space, Vivi curls her arm up to brush it through Arthur's hair. "Ugh, I vote next time we crash into something with a bedroom in it."

"I vote next time we don't crash at all," Arthur says dryly.

He rests quietly, feeling their minds drift quickly down into sleep, content to stay as close as possible and just _listen_. He's still half-disbelieving, glancing occasionally around the room to reassure himself that he really can't see mist and stalagmites. Every so often there's a soft pulse of awareness from one of them, but they don't wake fully. 

Eventually, wariness fades into wonder, and he curls over them tightly and _holds_.

\-----

Mystery, creeping like a six-tailed shadow along the roof, raises his head and carefully scents the air. There's a cocktail of supernatural energies around the Mechanics tonight and it's hard to make out what's what.

Alongside the swirls of spectral energy and the strong scent of old blood, there's also a more natural aroma wafting in the early morning air, one that smellls very much like... burnt chicken?

He completes another circuit of the roof, finally pinpointing the source of the smell. Some distance from their broken-down van, a large yellow truck sits innocently in the dawn light, a rooster logo on the side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just give in and snuggle with your ghost buddy, Arthur. _Hugs fix everything._  
>   
>  P.S. Comments gives the author extra tails!


	6. The Case of the Missing Pepper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is extra-long and very dialogue heavy. Hopefully the fluff makes up for it??

Vivi wakes and the first thing she thinks is _Mystery isn't a dog_.

The second thing she thinks is _pink??_

She shifts awkwardly in the small space, wriggling until she can see more than just the ceiling. A handful of tiny, pale ghost-lights are poking curious tendrils through the shelves and cupboards of the room. She peers a bit closer - one of them is floating just near her head, and it seems to have miniscule eyes and arms.

The tiny wisp spots her and gives a squeak, and they all quickly fade into nothing. There's a quiet chuckle from next to her ear.

" **They like the colour of your hair** ," Lewis says.

Brain still catching up, she shifts again. Somehow while they slept she's ended up wedged half under Arthur, who's sound asleep despite dangling off the sofa, Lewis' tight hold the only thing keeping him from a rude awakening.

She looks at Lewis, then Arthur, then the room, then back to Lewis, and blinks at him again. "...Uh," she says smartly. _What do you say to your dead ghost boyfriend who's been completely erased from your memory?_ "...Good morning?"

" **I think it's afternoon.** "

"Oh." _Well this is awkward._ She fidgets a bit, trying to ease the crick in her spine, grateful that Arthur had finished removing his implant. Sleeping on top of a chunk of metal would not have been great.

She looks up at Lewis, floating just above them. He doesn't seem to have moved while they slept, and he radiates a comfortable warmth. _Our own personal ghost blanket,_ she thinks in amusement. "Can you even sleep?"

He doesn't answer, and she looks up at him in concern. "Oops. Sorry, too soon?"

Lewis shakes his head, twining their fingers together. " **Vivi, can I... ask you something?** "

"Sure, of course, anything! Uh, I might not know the answer, though. See aforementioned memory thing."

He's quiet for a long moment, and she's glad she's braced herself for his question when he finally asks, " **Vivi... my family? How... how are they?** " His voice still reverberates strangely but now it sounds tentative, raspier, like it's an effort to get the words out.

_Hells._ "Okaaay, if we're gonna jump straight in with the hard questions then I'm sitting up for this." Shoving lightly, she struggles out of the tangle of limbs until she can kind-of sit up, moving around until she's found a comfortable spot on Arthur's feet. Lewis gives Arthur a worried look, but she waves him off. "He'll be out for the count for a while, don't worry. It's a Day Three."

" **What?** "

"A Day Three. Two days of frantic energy followed by a crash." _Ooh, poor choice of words,_ she thinks.

Lewis does not look at all appeased by this, carefully resettling Arthur back on the sofa and brushing a hand through his hair.

"He'll be fine, just let him sleep as long as he can," she says, trying to reassure him. No dice - Lewis still looks utterly dejected, and she feels a pang of sympathy. _He's so expressive, somehow._ Patting the arm of the sofa, she beckons him over, tucking herself deliberately into his side and pulling his arm around her. _Ahh, toasty._

"Okay, so. Your family. Uh, they're... in great health? Physically. I mean," she chews her lip, picking her phrasing carefully, "they've had a pretty tough time. Emotionally. _Obviously._ " _Smooth, Vivi._

" **...But they're alright?** "

"As much as they can be, yeah. They miss you really badly. Actually, uh, we haven't seen them in a little while." Vivi discreetly checks the heart locket, firmly tucked into Arthur's hand as he sleeps on. It seems to be pulsing a steady gold, no cracks to be seen, so she forges on. "The more time passed, the more they just... didn't want to talk about it. About you. Said they didn't want to keep getting the girls' hopes up." She sighs. "Arthur took it pretty badly. I think that was the first time he'd really considered that maybe you... weren't coming back."

_And wasn't_ that _a fantastic time for all,_ she thinks, wincing a little at the memory of the not-quite argument, Arthur's mulish expression, Mrs. Pepper's curt tone... _Let's not mention that part._

There's another long pause as Lewis ponders this. Leaning toward Arthur, Vivi pretends to adjust one of his bandages as she checks the heart again. _Still good_ , she thinks, relieved. There's no way she'll have a repeat of before, thank you.

" **What happened to your memory?** "

_Arthur, you are so lucky you're sleeping through this._ "I have no idea, except for the obvious - whatever happened that day, it sure did a number on us. It's been driving us both crazy, trying to figure out what happened." She draws in a deep breath, poking idly at one of his exposed ribs. The texture is odd, like polished stone. "All we could figure at first was that in the space of around fifteen hours, you went missing, I lost all my memories involving you, and Arthur lost an arm and nearly died."

She can feel him tense, and his response is stilted, carefully calm. " **I... _fell_. Off the side of the cliff. When Arthur - when whatever it was - pushed me.**"

_Oh,_ she thinks dazedly, _so that's how it happened._. "Uh, by any chance was it with his left arm?" They both look over at Arthur. He's frowning in his sleep, as though he knows what they're talking about.

" **I don't remember.** " Pressed up against his side, she can actually feel the buzz of his voice from deep within his chest. _Is that why he sounds so echoey?_ " **You were gone when I ...woke.** "

She leans into his side, trying to provide as much comfort as she can. "You know we would have stayed if we could, right? I might not remember what happened, exactly, but I'm damn sure we'd never have left you behind. Not on purpose."

" **...Yes.** " Voice still strained, he fiddles idly with her hair.

_I wish I could remember him properly. How do you cheer up a sad friend when you don't remember him? Hmm..._ "Hey, if you can bear to let go of Arthur for five seconds, you should-"

She cuts off as there's a sudden, thunderous knocking at the door.

They both freeze, snapping their heads around to stare at it. Vivi makes herself relax. _I'm pretty sure murderous trees don't knock, and Mystery would just slink right in._ She frowns.

The inner door explodes open, and Lance comes tearing though. " _Now_ what the hell have you kids-" Seeing them calmly sitting on the couch, Arthur snoring lightly next to them, he halts and scratches his head.

The frantic knocking continues.

Lance sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, then quickly looks around, grabbing a folded tarp from a shelf and flinging it over Lewis. "You stay still, dammit." He then storms to the door and flings it open.

There are no stab-happy trees on the other side, just a perfectly normal-looking man. Well, normal except for his terrified expression.

" _You have my truck!_ " the man shrieks.

"Whoa there," Lance says, taking a step back. "Calm down, buddy. What do you mean?"

"My truck! My _truck!_ It's here! Did you get the guy who stole it?" The man points outside, waving his arms madly, and Vivi hears a very quiet " **Ah,** " from under the tarp.

Lance eyes the man dubiously. "Look, uh, I've got no idea what you're talking about."

"You'll probably think I'm crazy, but I _swear_ , that's my truck - this freaky guy was just standing in the middle of the road and I nearly hit him and then he just - threw me out and _took off!_!" The man's frantic voice drops to an almost-whisper. "I swear, I gotta be seeing things, he looked like-" he gulps loudly, eyes darting around, "-like a _ghost_."

Lance swivels his head to give Vivi and the tarp a long, low look. "...A ghost, huh? You don't say."

"Yeah! A pink skeleton ghost! That's nuts, right? But I swear I'm not crazy!"

Lance tips his head back and stares at the ceiling for a brief moment before responding. "Oh, probably not. I've heard stranger things in my time." Lance claps the man on the back, manner abruptly switching from suspicious to sympathetic. "Want me to take you down to the station? Probably should file a police report or something."

"Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea," the man sags, looking relieved. "Can we uh, leave out the ghost part? Like, it was probably just some madman..."

"Sure. But we should definitely leave right now and tell the police. Can't have people going around _stealing trucks_ can we?" He guides the man around and back to the door. "That sort of thing's just _extremely poor behaviour_ ," Lance declares loudly, herding the man from the shop and giving them both one last, judgemental look.

There's a ringing silence after they leave, broken only by a soft sigh as Arthur shifts slightly, having slept through the whole thing.

_Leave it to Lance to hide a problem by throwing a blanket over it,_ Vivi thinks. _What a delightfully mundane solution._ She holds her breath and counts to ten but then makes the mistake of glancing over at the tarp-covered Lewis, and after that there's nothing for it - with a sound like a squeaky toy she absolutely loses it, doubling over and cackling until she's gasping for air.

There's a rustle of plastic, and Lewis emerges beside her. " **...Oops?** "

She shakes her head, catching her breath, and takes his hand again. " _Anyway_. As I was saying - you should come and take a look at this." Standing, she pulls him toward the door. For a second it's like tugging a boulder, but then he seems to get with the program, letting her tow him along. Outside, she checks the coast is clear and then tugs him to their van.

Ignoring its dented state, she flings the back open. Their equipment is still strewn all over the back, and it takes a bit of digging before she finds what she's looking for. "Aha!" Unearthing the box from a jumble of cables, she pops open the top and then pauses.

Lewis glances at the box, then back to her, and she hesitates. "Lewis," she taps her fingers on it consideringly. "Before I show you this you have to promise me something."

" **Anything,** " he says immediately. She's suddenly reminded that she's known this man for _years_. He clearly trusts her, cares for her a great deal - he's _anchored_ to her, for crying out loud - and she's not quite sure how to feel about that.

_I guess we deal with that later, and start with an explanation?_ "I'm going to tell you what we know, from the beginning. But you have to promise to tell me if it gets too much." She leans up, tapping pointedly on his chest where his focus would sit. "We're going to be sensible about this from now on, instead of flying around in a panic and hurting each other." She's still unhappy about that, actually.

He nods slowly.

"Which reminds me," she says, and grabs him by the collar, tugging him down until she can glare directly into his eye... sockets. "I know you're confused and angry, but here's the thing - Arthur's had a very, _very_ bad year and if you try anything like that again _I'll bury you permanently_." She narrows her eyes further, getting right up in his face, and gives his collar a firm shake. " _Got_ it?"

His eyes dilate and he jerks back, nodding furiously. " **Yes. I won't- I don't even know why I did that. I won't hurt him.** " He slumps, holding his hands out beseechingly. " **I won't hurt either of you.** "

" _Hmmmm,_ " she says, and hands him the box as a response, pulling out the first folder.

Lifting it curiously, he reads the scrawl on the side. " ** _The Case of the Missing Pepper_. You made a case file for me?**"

"Yeah, because you were missing?" She opens the folder, taking out a crumpled receipt. "After we got out of hospital, we found this-"

" ** _Wait._ Hospital?!**"

"Hang on, we'll get to that. So this was in Arthur's wallet, the first clue in our investigation - a receipt for gas, purchased around eight o'clock in the morning. See the date?" She smooths it out and shows him. "The day you went missing. So apparently we stopped for gas that morning."

" **I think I remember that... the attendant, he told us about some missing people?** "

She nods. "When we went back he told us the same thing - that he'd seen our van and told us about all the people who, over several decades, went mysteriously missing in the woods nearby." She looks him over carefully, trying to gauge his reaction. He's holding tight to the box, hanging on her every word.

"So," she continues, "we knew we were investigating something, and where, and that we were probably attacked. Our next step was to find the people who picked us up and took us to the hospital."

" **Hospital.** "

"Yeah. Arthur was bleeding out and I was apparently non-responsive."

Lewis stares.

She shrugs, trying to play it down. "It's lucky they came along when they did. They were a really nice couple, actually, really kind. They told us roughly where they found us, near the road," she plunges her hand into the box and pulls out a map, unfolding it and pointing at a big red exclamation point, "here. We went there next and found the van, but we didn't find you. Or any caves. Believe me, we searched for days."

" **I believe you,** " Lewis replies quietly, and stares into the box.

"And that's where Arthur's theory came in, that you'd lost your memory like I had. He thought you could have wandered somewhere for help, or been picked up by a stranger, so we started a grid search."

Lewis takes the map from her, eyes running over it.

"Arthur made a digital copy, but we kept this in case something fried our electronics again," she explains as he peers at it. "And wasn't _that_ a pain in the ass-"

" **Vivi. What's the date?** "

"Uh, February eleventh?"

He points to a little 'X' mark some distance from the forest. " **This... this is marked three weeks ago.** "

"Oh, yeah. That was a bust, obviously, but we did find a-" she stops as Lewis abruptly drops the map, putting the papers back in the box and carefully setting it aside. "You okay, Lewis? You're- _oof!_ "

Arms wrapped around her, he practically lifts her off her feet as he clings tightly, face buried in her hair. " **I knew it. I knew you were looking for me. I knew you wouldn't give up!** "

She laughs softly, tugging at his jacket. "Of course we didn't!"

" **Even... even though you don't remember me?** "

"Hey, as the leading expert on weird-ass memory loss, let me tell you my biggest discovery." She prods his cheekbone until he looks at her. "You can tell a lot about a person by the hole they leave behind in your life."

He makes a strange crackling noise that sounds suspiciously like a sob, and hides his face again.

_Oh no, this was meant to make him happier, not sadder!_ "Plus there's the not-insignificant Arthur Factor. That boy does _not_ give up. I don't think I've ever heard him talk so much in my _life_ \- all it took was asking about you and he turned into a complete chatterbox. Who knew?"

Another ghostly crackle. " **He's hurt so badly.** "

"Yeah. I should dig out those painkillers he used to take for his arm-"

" **No- Well, yes. But I mean he's hurt badly in his mind. It feels _cold_. There's so much grief...**"

_So that's what he reacted to before?_ "Is it... too much?"

There's a long silence, and he pulls back, setting her down gently. " **I don't want it to be. I don't want to hurt him again.** "

"Just take it slow, then. You've barely been back a day. It's okay for it to be a shock. It's okay for _several things_ to be a shock." Narrowing her eyes, she glances around, looking for a flare of tails, or a white shadow in the distance, but spots nothing. "Mystery should be back by now. I'm going to take him and go get that book, and on the way we're going to have a little _chat_."

" **Book?** "

" _Ex Idea Forma_ \- it's a book about ghosts. Really old, so I'll have to talk my boss into letting me take it. I think it'll answer some questions about all... this," she says, waving her hand at him. "So - can I trust you to stay and watch Artie?"

He tilts his head to the side, concerned. " **Shouldn't we come with you? What if the demon comes back?** "

"I don't think Arthur's up to walking right now. He's not going to feel great when he wakes up. Oh, I should find those pills-" Digging once more in the van, she grabs their emergency kit and plucks out the bottle.

Lewis takes them from her, rolling it in his hand. " **I'll take care of him, but, Vivi... he's terrified of me.** "

"I could wake him before I go then, so he doesn't freak out? Like I said, he'll need some time to figure out how he feels about all this." _Just_ talk _to each other. Boys, honestly._ "And hey, we can always throw a tarp over you."

The glower she gets is totally worth it. "Come on, let's go wake him up. He probably knows where Lance keeps the cookies."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance clearly buys sturdy furniture.
> 
> P.S. Comments are added to the author's case files!


	7. Pressure Points

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the fluff you've all been waiting for(?)

"Arthur. Arthur. Arrrrthur!"

Vivi is sing-songing in his ear, prodding annoyingly at his cheek. Grumbling, he bats her hand away. "Five more minutes..."

Another gentle prod. "Just wake up for a few minutes and then you can go back to sleep for as long as you want."

_Ugh._ Arthur sighs, shifting to relieve the ache in his back, but it doesn't make a lick of difference. Actually, now that he's awake he realises he's aching all _over_. What the hell?

" _Ow_ ," he informs Vivi, blinking up at her. "Didja get the number of that truck?"

She frowns at him. "Uh, yeah, we did."

_Huh? Oh wait-_

"By the way, don't freak out about the ghost."

"What? Oh _fuck!_ " He leaps about a foot in the air, adrenaline spiking through his veins as he finally notices Lewis hovering behind her, fiddling with something in his hands.

Vivi sighs sadly. "Well, I tried."

"Sorry, sorry," he says to both of them, scrubbing at his eyes, "it's still kind of... unexpected."

" **Um. I brought you some toast?** " Lewis holds out a plate, which is thankfully full of perfectly ordinary non-ghostified toast, and then a familiar medicine bottle. " **The label says you shouldn't take these on an empty stomach.** "

It's _just_ like Lewis to lecture him about medicine, and for a moment his brain crashes, trying to put the hovering spectre and the memory of his friend together. At a loss, Arthur takes the offerings and sets them on his lap. "Uh. Thanks?"

He doesn't remember his friend towering over him quite this much. Has he gotten taller or is he just cheating by floating above the floor? Arthur leans over to check and nearly topples off the sofa. Lewis catches him, steadying the plate.

It's an effort not to jerk away, but he manages it. He must give himself away somehow though, because Lewis droops a little and retreats back a few steps.

Vivi plonks down beside him, handing over a mug. "Careful, it's hot."

He breathes in the smell of cheap instant coffee and instantly feels about ten percent more human. "Vivi, you're the _best._ "

"How are you feeling?" she asks, grasping his chin gently and tipping his head toward the light. She studies him critically.

"Fine."

She gives that the reaction it deserves, fixing him with a look he's seen a hundred times before, mostly while he was recovering. It's the patented Yukino ' _don't even try it with me, mister_ ' look, and he sighs.

"Pretty achy, I guess." He quickly shoves a bite of toast in his mouth before she can ask him anything further.

Her narrowed eyes mean she's onto him, but she lets him off the hook, letting go and dropping her arm with a huff. " _Hmm._ Well, I woke you up to tell you I'm taking Mystery to the Tome Tomb."

He frowns at that, mind flashing to the busted van. He can probably get it up and running in an hour or so. It won't be a great fix, but it'll be enough to get around Tempo. "Right. Let me just-"

"Uh-uh, nope! You're not coming. You're staying right there until you've eaten and drunk something and then had at _least_ another few hours of sleep."

"Um. Okay then. When do you want to leave? It'll take me an hour or so to fix the van-"

Lewis jerks forward just as Vivi opens her mouth. " _A_ **b** _s_ **o** _l_ **u** _t_ **e** _l_ **y** _n_ **o** _t_ ," they both snap, then turn to stare at each other. 

Arthur's gaze flicks back and forth between them, wide-eyed. "...That was freaky."

Vivi beams at Lewis, giving him a fond pat. "That was _awesome_. Make sure he doesn't do anything while I'm gone, okay? Hide his tools if you have to."

"Wait," says Arthur, "you're going alone?"

" _No_ , I just said I'm taking Mystery."

"What if that plant thing finds you?!"

"Hey, he beat it once, we'll be fine. _And_ I've got my bat. Besides, it's stayed away for hours now."

"Vivi, I'm not sure..." He doesn't like the idea of her wandering around out there with only Mystery and a baseball bat between her and that dangerous thing. "Lewis should go with you, it's safer."

"Right. I'll just walk to the Tome Tomb in the broad afternoon sun with a giant pink skeleton ghost who's wanted for carjacking." Vivi rolls her eyes. "I don't think so, boys. Plus, who's to say she won't come back here?"

Arthur gulps. Lewis flares up slightly, glancing out the window then back to Arthur.

" **Arthur? I think I should stay with you. _Oh_ \- unless you... want me to leave?**"

Lewis sounds so woeful he immediately replies, "No! No, it's fine, stay. Um... unless you want to go?"

Vivi makes a strangled noise. "For fuck's sake, you two are _hopeless_. You're both staying. Artie, get some more sleep and don't you _dare_ touch that van. Lewis, you're on Artie-watch and tree-demon patrol. _I'm_ going to see my boss about a book, which will hopefully give us some answers."

Arthur gives up and finishes his toast.

"And while I'm leaving you with instructions on how not to be idiots, Arthur - you need to understand something about ghosts." She beckons Lewis over, taking him by the hand. "Remember what I said before, about ghosts being emotion and memory?"

Arthur nods mutely, hiding behind his coffee mug.

"Lewis is empathic, I think - towards us, anyway." She lifts a brow at Lewis, and he nods. "Basically, if you feel bad, then he'll feel bad, and then you'll feel _worse_ , and _that's bad_ , get it?" She says.

_What the fuck._ "I think so?"

"I know this isn't really helpful advice, but just relax and try to sleep, okay?"

_No way in hell is that happening,_ he thinks, glancing quickly at Lewis. "Sure, Vivi."

"Great! Lewis, in the extremely unlikely event that you do see that killer plant, fire at will."

" **Right.** "

She grins at them. "Alright Skulls, we've got a mystery to solve!"

Lewis laughs fondly, and Arthur rolls his eyes. "Ugh, one day you'll stop using that dumb catchphrase."

"Today is not that day," Vivi replies cooly, rising and dusting off her skirt.

\-----

When Vivi shuts the door behind her it's like she's sucked all the noise right with her, leaving a ringing silence.

Eyes glued on the floor, Arthur can feel Lewis' gaze on him, prickling the back of his neck. _What will he do, now that Vivi's not here to see...?_ he thinks, and then immediately scolds himself. Lewis won't hurt him, not now that they've repaired his heart and pulled him out of his mania. He darts a quick glance up at him, and - nope. His brain is still glitching out at the sight of a _giant fanged ghost_ , demanding he run for the hills _right the hell now_.

He quickly drops his eyes back down and a vibrant blue catches his attention. Suddenly realising that Lewis' new heart is still dangling around his neck, he quickly grabs the chain, unlooping it from his head and holding it out. "Um. Uh. Here, this is yours."

Lewis tips his head to the side, the angle too low to look natural. He reaches out slowly and takes it from him, and even that feels far too close. Arthur feels his heart start to hammer in his chest.

" _Okay so_. Okay. I'll be right back?" He manages to mumble, and then he books it through the workshop's tiny kitchenette and into the tinier bathroom. Shutting the door tightly behind him, he leans against it and freezes, every sense focused, waiting for sounds of movement behind the door.

Silence.

Releasing his breath, he sags, mind racing through one of his old breathing exercises and failing it miserably. _Dammit. So much for relaxing._ Splashing a handful of water on his face, he catches sight of himself in the mirror and winces. His bruises have come up in glorious technicolour. Lifting his shirt, he finds an ugly purple-blue band spanning from his left shoulder to his right hip. _Thank god for seatbelts, I guess?_ No wonder he feels like death warmed up. Stupidly, he prods at his shoulder and immediately regrets it.

It's not enough of a distraction. He starts pacing in circles in the tiny space, eyeing the door. _I can't just hide in here. Wait, can I?_ He considers it for about three seconds before he shakes his head. _...No, don't be an idiot. You wanted to help him, and this probably isn't helping._

He finishes cleaning himself up, messing with his hair until he gives it up as a lost cause. _Okay. Stop putting it off._ He steels himself and opens the door.

Back in the workshop, Lewis is sitting forlornly on the sofa, hunched over the open locket as he stares at the photos. Arthur marches himself back over, locks his back, and sits next to him.

Lewis offers him the coffee mug, prodding the pill bottle subtly closer. Arthur takes a full dose and washes it down with cold coffee.

" **Did I thank you yet?** " Lewis asks.

Caught off guard, Arthur can only blink at him dumbly. "Huh?"

" **For this.** " Lewis brushes a thumb over the metal casing. " **It's perfect. Thank you.** "

"Don't... don't _thank_ me, god, it's... anything you need, it's yours, okay? Here - I made it a folding bail, you can wind the chain up and close it inside," Arthur reaches over unthinkingly, demonstrating, "then it won't hang loose while you're... wearing it?"

Lewis folds the chain neatly inside, shutting it with a click, and takes Arthur's hand. " **You're so clever, Artie.** "

Arthur freezes, caught between base instinct and Vivi's warning. Is it better to leap away or will that make Lewis feel bad? If he stays still but freaks out would that be _worse_? He silently curses Vivi's useless advice.

Lewis makes a soft, sad hum and pulls back, and Arthur shakes his head, annoyed with himself. His brain is still shrilling out alarm bells. _Ghost!_ they warn. _Get away! There's a ghost!_.

_Thank you I'm well aware!_ he thinks back at it, trying to will his instincts silent, and reaches for Lewis' hand. Very firmly _not thinking_ about the sensation of bone under his fingers, he places his friend's large palm over his eyes. Holding it in place, vision now totally obscured, he takes a long, deep breath. "Can you... say something?"

" **Arthur, what are you doing?** "

"I can't... look at you right now. I know that _you_ know when I'm afraid, and Vivi said to be careful because of the emotion-sharing thing, but I can't... help it."

Lewis is silent, and Arthur hurries to explain further. "I'm not afraid of you. Not really. Just, my brain knows you won't hurt me but I guess my instincts aren't on board yet." He winces. "It's, uh... it's hard to remember that it's _you_ under all... that."

He waits nervously, praying he hasn't done any further damage. Eventually there's a very quiet " **Oh.** "

"Um. Your voice is almost the same, you know."

There's another tense silence. Arthur almost regrets not being able to see him. Is he angry? Sad?

...Neither? Lewis' voice is completely neutral when says, " **I have an idea. Can I pick you up?** "

_He won't hurt me. I know he won't._ "...Sure?"

Lewis removes his hand, and Arthur quickly squeezes his eyes shut.

Moving slowly, each motion deliberate, Lewis carefully scoops him up and sets him down again. " **There. Now you can't see me.** "

_Ummmmm...???_ His brain abruptly forgoes its alarm bells, zeroing in on the fact that he's _sitting in Lewis' lap_ , and goes blank.

...

A hand cards gently through his hair. " **Is this... okay?** "

It takes him way too long to respond. "Uh, sure."

" **Is that medicine helping? You should sleep.** "

He sits up straighter, nerves dissipated now that he's not faced with the brain-glitching reality of his best friend's state. "I don't think that's going to happen."

Lewis hums again. A thumb traces his back, moving with unnerving accuracy to that troublesome knot of muscles just under his shoulderblade. " **Is this from the crash?** "

"No, that's from constantly hauling around an arm made of metal and- _ack!_ "

There's a stabbing pain as Lewis presses down, then the knot releases and the knifepoint ache ebbs away for the first time in _weeks_. Sighing in relief, Arthur slumps a bit as Lewis finds another pressure point. _I should probably be more weirded out by this,_ he thinks dully. The painkillers have definitely kicked in, and he feels warm and a bit fuzzy.

" **Vivi told me about the case file... and her memory, and...** " Lewis brushes a warm hand down his left shoulder.

"S'been a fucked up year," he mutters. Somehow he's gone from a solid ache to a warm puddle in less than ten minutes. "Should do this on her head - good for headaches, prob'ly."

" **I might be able to help her memory, too.** "

"Hm?"

" **Emotion and memory... like she said. I can feel your emotions, maybe I can try and fix her memory.** "

Arthur stills, mind latching onto that and starting to crank back into gear. "Wait. You can fix it?"

" **Maybe? I can try.** "

With an effort, he throws off the sleepy haze, remembering at the last second not to turn around. "Can you fix mine?"

Lewis shifts, hand tapping his locket - Arthur can hear the metallic _pings_. It's just like Lewis to fidget when he's unsure about something. Narrowing his eyes, he thinks about Lewis' odd behaviour since he returned, the strange clinginess, the way he tried to grab him-

"Was that what you were trying to do before?"

" **That was a bad idea.** "

"But you're... you know, more yourself again. Try it now." If he could just figure out what happened, maybe he can finally start to _fix_ all this somehow. He'll have an explanation for the Peppers, he'll know what happened to his arm, how Vivi was cursed, _how Lewis died_ \- all the knowledge that's been stuck in his head, maddeningly inaccessible. _Post-traumatic amnesia_ , they'd called it. That's definitely not what he calls it.

" **Arthur-** "

" _Lewis._ This has been driving me crazy for almost a year. I _need_ to know what happened! And I know you do too." He waits impatiently, staring at the wall across from them. Lewis is silent, and Arthur makes a noise of frustration and grabs his hand again, setting it on top of his head. "Come on," he says coaxingly, "it's all in there somewhere. Don't you want to find out?"

" **........Yes. I do.** " Lewis' hand moves lower, settling at the nape of his neck, and for a moment nothing at all happens. Then Arthur closes his eyes as a dazzling whirl of images hits him, flickering like lightning. They're not so much images, he realises, more bursts of colour and sound and impression, and he can't make sense of any of it.

" **Try and think about that day,** " Lewis says, voice flat and emotionless.

Arthur tries, thinking of the gas station receipt, the forest where they found the van, the chill winter air, and one 'image' flashes, standing out in his mind's eye -

_They're in the van._

_Lewis is driving._

_There are trees all around-_

The memory fuzzes out, and Arthur frowns. "Try again?"

_They're in the van. Lewis is driving. There are trees all around. There's a green fog-_

It dissolves again, slipping into nothingness, and Arthur growls, focusing _harder_.

_They're in the van. Lewis is driving. There are trees all around. There's a green fog -_

_\- a green fog -_

_\- a green fog -_

_\- a fork in the path - g r e e n -_

_- **PAIN!** -_

There's a sharp, stabbing pain in his head, just above his ear, and he gasps.

Lewis pauses. " **...Arthur?** "

"It's... it's fine, keep going."

" **You're hurting.** "

He grits his teeth. "It's nothing. Keep looking."

He can feel him hesitating, drawing back. " **I don't want to hurt you.** "

"Come on," he urges, "I think you've nearly got it." _If it helps, it's worth the pain._

There's a long and indecisive pause, then a memory unfolds -

_Arthur is eating a pepper, Lewis a slice of seafood pizza, both their faces contorted. Vivi has a camera and a smirk._

"That's... that's not the right one, Lew."

" **I know.** "

"Uh, but don't you want to try and see what happened? If I... If I really did-"

" **I'd rather see this,** " Lewis replies, and prods at another snippet of memory -

_Lewis leans against Arthur's small workshop table, holding pieces of a broken blender and watching hopefully while Arthur takes it apart._

The sharp pain fades into nothing, and Lewis plucks up another - 

_Arthur throws the handbrake of the van, almost flying out of the driver's seat to show them both his handiwork - their first set of wheels, fixed and fueled and waiting to be painted._

" **There's your evidence, Artie.** "

"What?"

" **You didn't kill me.** "

"But-"

" **I don't need to see what happened. I know you didn't do it. You wouldn't hurt me in a million years.** "

"I-"

_The three of them rugged up in a thousand layers, lying lazily in a field, gazing up at the stars. Vivi points above, tracing out Orion._

" **You never gave up looking for me, even after all this time.** "

" _Lewis,_ " he tries.

" **Arthur... I love you too.** "

.....

Arthur opens his eyes and gapes.

" **What? What is it?!** "

"You look like _you!_ " Arthur yelps, prodding Lewis in the cheek.

Lewis blinks, and Arthur's breath hitches. " **I do?** "

He leans up to cup his face, and Lewis quirks his familiar silly smile at him. For a moment he almost forgets that his friend came back to the world steeped in pain and vengeance, because he looks as gleeful as that time they tried juggling eggs and broke every one in the Peppers' fridge, to his mother's great exasperation.

He smiles back helplessly. " _God_ I've missed you so much."

" **I missed you too,** " Lewis says, and kisses him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so that's the scene I've been dying (ha) to write since I started this mess of a fic.
> 
> Um.
> 
> P.S. Comments make the author write more scenes where Arthur gets some heckin sleep??


	8. Cat O'Seventails

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..............=)

Lewis has never kissed Arthur before, yet it somehow feels like something he's done a thousand times, like a comfortable habit of many years.

Arthur, in contrast, looks somewhat thunderstruck.

Lewis pulls back, unsure, checking Arthur over. To his relief the frisson of _fear_ seems to have vanished, but now he feels a distinct flavour of _surprise_. " **Arthur?** "

"Um. Yeah?" Arthur blinks at him rapidly.

" **Can I do that again?** "

Arthur stares at him for a full five seconds. "......Yes."

Mindful of Vivi's advice to take it slow - though he imagines this probably isn't what she had in mind - he keeps it gentle, trying to soothe, pressing in comfort and affection. Seeing Arthur's memories of them - feeling what the man _feels_ about them both - he wants to wrap around him and never let go, but he's wary of bringing back that sense of _fear_...

Arthur pushes at him, and he quickly breaks away to check him over, concerned.

"Wait. You _love_ me."

" **Of course I do,** " he replies, relieved, and kisses him again. And again. And- why did he never do this before?

...

...He's an idiot.

Arthur's presence is so familiar, a balm on his soul, and he gathers him in closer. _I could do this forever_ -

"Wait- d-dammit, Lew, I need to _breathe_."

" **Oh, right,** " Lewis says, and politely waits a few moments before reeling him back in.

Arthur's hand is tangled in his shirt, gripping hard enough that it must hurt. _That's no good._ He'd been almost completely relaxed before, until Lewis had brought up the memories... Okay, clearly talking is a bad plan, no more giving Arthur ideas.

New plan: he goes back to his earlier method, smoothing a hand down Arthur's sides and caressing his hair, kissing him softly until that rigid grip slackens and he leans into Lewis' touch. Lewis kisses him until he's warmed through, kisses him until he can't stop a hum of contentment, kisses him until his mind starts to fuzz out, kisses him until-

"Wait, _wait_ , _fuck_ \- Lew, you- you can't kiss me!"

" **Oh,** " he says again, disappointed. " **Um. Why not?** "

"You're _Vivi's boyfriend._ "

It takes a while for that to sink through the pleasant haze, and even longer to figure out why that might be a problem.

" **Arthur. Uh. We're _both_ Vivi's boyfriends. Aren't we?**"

Arthur freezes, opens his mouth, and shuts it again with a click.

Lewis watches in confusion as a range of expressions flicker over Arthur's face. Whatever's going on in his head, it's too chaotic to figure out even with the extra help from his connected senses.

Groaning, Arthur buries his face in Lewis' shirt. " _Holy shit._ Holy- we are, aren't we?"

Lewis pats Arthur consolingly as the man mutters unintelligibly into his shoulder. " **Also. Uh. You do realise that we're kind of ...connected... now?** " He suddenly wonders if Arthur's really understood that part.

When Arthur just blinks at him again, Lewis takes his hand and places it over his heart, floating back in its usual spot on his chest. " **I came back for you. _Both_ of you.**"

Arthur curls his fingers around it and goes quiet for long enough that Lewis starts to get nervous. " **Is that... okay?** "

Arthur shakes his head abruptly, looking confusedly at the golden locket. "I... I don't know? I mean- yesterday you- uh. And now..." he trails off.

Lewis feels another sharp pang of guilt, made worse as he carefully brushes his thumb over Arthur's cheek, avoiding the bruises. He's not stupid enough to think that a few kisses and some painkillers will make everything better - he was trying to get Arthur to relax enough to sleep again, and here he's gotten himself completely sidetracked. A little voice in the back of his head, one that sounds remarkably like Vivi, says _He needs some time, you idiot._

Damn it. Vivi is going to clobber him.

He smiles ruefully. " **And to think Vivi warned you about the emotion-sharing thing - I guess she should have been warning _me_. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overwhelm you.**"

Arthur shakes his head again, tapping absently on his heart, which is _very distracting_. He should put some distance between them, give Arthur some space to think, but he feels like it might somehow be easier to _stop time_ than to wrench himself away. _I'll just... move if he asks. And stay put until then,_ he decides.

"You know what," Arthur eventually says, "I think I will try and sleep. I'll.. work all this out later. Somehow."

Lewis nods and starts mentally preparing himself to let go, but then Arthur pulls the locket to his chest, cupping it protectively, and plants his head back into the crook of Lewis' neck.

"Just... don't go anywhere before I figure it out... 'kay?" he mumbles, sounding embarrassed, and _oh,_ that's _it_ \- he just can't keep a lid on his instincts anymore.

" **I won't,** " he promises fervently, " **I won't go anywhere.** " Twining around the man, Lewis tries his best to become a solid barrier between Arthur and anything that might dare hurt him. If any demon trees disturb his friend's rest, he decides, he's going to _burn them to a crisp._

He presses Arthur down on the sofa until they're back where they started, and Arthur... well, he _lets him_ , and that's good enough for now.

\-----

"I wonder how the boys are getting on?" Vivi says with false brightness.

Tome under one arm, bat swinging idly from her hand, she breezes down the street, barely looking around her. Back in dog-shape, Mystery lags one step behind, hackles up as he scans around them in a distinctly intelligent, undoglike fashion.

It hadn't taken long to summon him and get going. Vivi had hovered near the van for a bit, waiting impatiently, but quickly realised there was a far better method to finding her wayward mascot. She'd simply announced, "Here I go all on my lonesome to walk in broad daylight to the bookstore! Gosh am I glad I have my bat in case something attacks me!" and Mystery had appeared in a flurry of white, leaning over the rooftop eaves with a scowl on his canine features.

Unfortunately he's stayed obstinately mute all the way to the Tome Tomb, and Vivi's beginning to think she'll crack before he does.

"Sure is nice to have Lewis back!" she prods.

Silence.

Her eyes narrow. "I mean, it would have been _great_ to know he was dead the whole time we were looking for him."

Silence.

"Yyyyep. Could have saved me 'n Arthur a whole bunch of nightmares-"

" _Vivi_ ," he finally growls, "pay attention to your surroundings. She could be _anywhere_ -"

" _Fuck you_ ," she hisses, finally losing her temper. "Give me one goddamn reason why I should ever listen to your advice again."

He hunkers down, looking at her with sad puppy eyes, but her heart feels like stone today - there's just too many secrets between them, and the resentment from what feels like at least _three_ betrayals has been building up in her chest since last night. She's going to get some answers if she has to _literally_ pull teeth to get them. _Arthur probably has some pliers somewhere._

Mystery's tail - singular, now - sags, and he heaves a doggy sigh. He looks around quickly, and she knows he's hoping to see someone nearby and use that as an excuse to avoid her questions. Unluckily for him, they're completely alone on the street, and he glances once more at her resolute expression before he slumps lower, finally caving. "Fine. _Fine_ \- ask your questions."

"O-ho, where to begin," she snaps. "How about a year ago, when our _best friend died_ and you saw fit to tell no one?"

"I couldn't," he says miserably. "I couldn't have you go back in there looking for him - don't look at me like that, you know perfectly well you would have, binding spell or no."

"So, what - you were just going to leave him stuck there forever while we wandered around in circles?"

"Of course not! I didn't know he'd _risen again_ ," he snaps back. "I saw him fall -" Mystery cuts himself off, sighing again, and she begrudgingly admits to herself that his guilt, at least, is genuine.

"I was too late," he continues, "there was nothing I could do, and then Arthur..." he stops mid-stride, staring back in the general direction of the Mechanics, and his eyes go distant and unseeing. "At least I could try to save Arthur."

 _That's_ disquieting enough to silence her while she mulls that over.

"Do you know what happened to my memory?"

"No. Only that whatever the cause, it has a certain curse-like tone to it, but that much you've worked out yourself."

 _True enough._ "Hmm," she says noncommittally. "So... when _were_ you going to tell us about Lewis? After Arthur completely cracked apart? After the Peppers eventually gave up? Because let me tell you, you were cutting it a bit fine-"

" _Vivi_ ," he says imploringly, "you must understand - I would have kept silent forever if it meant you never went back to that place. The danger-"

" _Fuck_ the danger," she spits, "we're the _Mystery Skulls_. That _means something_ , even if society chooses to look the other way. Dealing with these things is our job!"

"Some things are beyond you, Vivi! You, _none_ of you, are invulnerable - as Lewis has kindly demonstrated for us!"

Vivi nearly shrieks. "That guy at the gas station said people had been going missing for _decades_. What, were we supposed to just fuck off and let it keep happening?!"

Their voices echo across the empty streets. Mystery's ears, flattened against his head, suddenly prick up. Come to think of it, she's suprised no one's come to investigate the racket. It's strange to see no one out and about at this time of the afternoon.

A breeze picks up and Mystery goes on _alert_ , tracking something red gliding by in the air. "Vivi. _Vivi. Run._ "

There's so much left to say, so many more questions to ask, but something in his voice has her turning and pelting down the road as fast as she can go.

Mystery careens past her, a pale streak against the ground, and zig-zags off the path. "This way - we must get to the trees!" There's a strange, ominous rumbling noise, like a localised earthquake - and it's coming closer.

Her lungs are already starting to burn and she's certain this fucking book is the heaviest thing she's ever carried, but she forces her legs to keep churning, puffing with the exertion and her still-rolling anger. She can see where he's aiming, a clump of evergreens not far away, and she fixes her eyes on them, willing them closer. _Nearly there-_

There's an explosion of dirt and clay and she skids to a halt, somehow keeping her footing. Mystery barks a warning, a blur of white that almost seems to teleport between her and the tree-woman.

She's as demonic-looking as Vivi remembers from the brief battle last night. It's almost worse to see her in the bright afternoon sun - everything from her jagged teeth to her sickly green colouring to her red-eyed glare look _wrong_ in the clear light of day, like a creature of nightmares suddenly stepping out of the shadows of story and into reality.

A chilling, crimson grin full of fangs is all the warning they get before she's on them.

Vivi grips her bat one-handed, barely managing to deflect the first strike. She braces herself for the next but the woman just _disappears_. The ground rumbles again, and then she pops up behind them, scissors slicing through the air. Mystery barely dodges in time.

Vivi's casual dismissal of this demonic threat - was it just this morning? - seems like a distant memory. _I am such an idiot,_ she thinks dismally as the next blow knocks the bat clear out of her hand.

"UP THE TREE!" Mystery bellows, zooming around as a distraction, and Vivi groans.

" _Are you fucking kidding me,_ " she puffs. She gets it - getting off the ground means she'll be safe from the surprise attacks - but climbing is _not_ her forté.

Adrenaline and sheer stubbornness get her shimmying up the first few branches, priceless tome wedged precariously into the front of her shirt. When she counts five branches up she braces herself and looks down.

Vivi's not sure how she didn't notice the _howling_ before now. The woman - tree - _what the fuck even is that thing???_ \- is screeching a sound like talons down a chalkboard. It makes her spine shudder unpleasantly.

Mystery's form flickers, and he seems to grow and shrink rapidly as the demon stabs at him with the shears. _He's using his size as an advantage,_ Vivi realises - the unpredictable shapes make it very hard to hit him. As Vivi watches on, though, she realises with a sinking feeling that it's just a matter of time before a hit lands - Mystery won't run and leave her behind, and he can't maneouver to get in a blow of his own while his form is switching so fast. Vivi chews her lip ragged, rapidly going through her options and coming up empty.

It's inevitable - the woman finally scores a hit. It's only a glancing blow but the strength behind it knocks Mystery on his side, a streak of red appearing on his flank. Struggling to get up, Mystery whimpers, and with dread she realises that he won't move in time.

Vivi feels her long-simmered rage blow out into an indignant fury.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY DOG!" she bellows, and launches out of the tree without thought or care. Deprived of her bat, she reaches for the next-best thing.

_WHACK._

Of all the things they've hit her with - bullets, bats, and flame - for some reason the ancient book is the third-time lucky charm. With an ear-splitting shriek the demon flails back, away from the crumbling pages.

Vivi stops, stares at the book, shrugs, and hefts it again. Stepping forward menacingly, she lets out a howl of her own and bashes it into the demon's head with a satisfying _whud_.

With a last howl, the demon flees back into the ground, rumbling away like lightning.

Vivi breathes out, nerves singing, and checks on her dog. The cut doesn't seem too bad, but he does look a bit shocked.

" _How?_ " Mystery says weakly.

Vivi, still hopped up on adrenaline, smiles like a shark. "The power of knowledge, baby!"

Mystery fixes her with a look, and she shrugs unrepentantly. "Okay, I have no idea. Let's skedaddle before it comes back."

Staggering to his feet with a wince, Mystery shakes his head. "It sounds like you're feeling better?"

"Yeah," she says. "That was pretty cathartic. I mean - we're not done here, but - yeah."

"Can we go home now?"

" _Fuck yes._ Let's go get the boys."

Vivi tucks the tome - now extra-battered - back under her arm and collects her bat, and they set off once more.

"So," Vivi says after a bit, "what's up with the Fox in Socks routine?"

Mystery sighs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lewis, you overdramatic skeleton, let the man _breathe_.  
>   
> Also this fic got to 200 kudos while I was writing this chapter and I've officially had a meltdown from joy, _thank you all so much aaaaa_ \- (there were 5 lines of keysmashing here but I deleted them)  
>   
> P.S. Comments make the author... grin like a loon, to be perfectly honest :3


	9. Home Sweet Haunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this chapter seems a little staccato it's because my family have been interrupting me _every ten minutes when I'm trying to write_. So yeah have a bit of filler.

Despite his declaration Arthur doesn't sleep, exactly. Lying quietly on Lewis' lap, thoughts going in circles, there's too much going on in his head for true rest, though the painkillers manage to shut his brain down enough to doze a bit.

Lewis is a very patient pillow. He must be aware that Arthur's not fully asleep but he thankfully doesn't call him on it, leaving him to sort his thoughts. He keeps a wary watch on the door, every so often brushing a curious hand over him. Arthur feels the featherlight touches over his bandages, tracing under his eyes, gliding over injuries old and new. It's... soothing, in a way.

One tentative stroke over a scar on his shoulder makes him wonder. _Does Lewis know how I lost my arm? He seems surprised by it._ He's about to give up on the rest idea and ask when the outside door swings open, the workshop bell jingling cheerily, and Vivi bounces in. Mystery, looking normal again, slinks in after her.

"I'm back!" Vivi grins at them, hands full and puffing heavily. "How are you feeling, Artie?" She swishes over and promptly does a double take. "Whoa, when did our ghost get _hot_?" Her eyebrows waggle and she gives a low whistle.

Lewis blushes ...somehow, and flashes his trademark _aw shucks_ grin at her.

" _Oof_ ," says Vivi, turning slightly pink herself. She bites her lip and throws Arthur a stunned glance.

He sends back an _I know, right?_ look, sitting up and freeing Lewis to step over to her. He knows exactly what she means - no amount of photos could capture the sheer wattage of Lewis' smile. "I'm feeling better," he replies, and finds he's actually telling the truth.

" **Here, let me help you with those - wow, that book does look old, you weren't kid-** " Reaching to take the heavy book, Lewis' hand brushes against Vivi's and he freezes mid-sentence.

The book thuds to the floor. Vivi frowns down at it and opens her mouth to scold him, but it turns into a squeak of surprise as he grabs her by the shoulders and yanks her over, the flames of his pupils shrinking down to pinpricks.

" **Why,** " he snaps, expression furious, " **are you _bleeding?!_** "

"Uh..." Vivi's eyes widen.

"What?" Arthur snaps to attention, alarmed by the sudden mood swing. Looking to Mystery for answers, he makes another unhappy discovery. "Wait, you're _both_ bleeding." Checking him over, Arthur's worried fingers find Mystery's snow-white fur is matted on one side, clumped with dried blood.

Mystery pushes gently into his hands. "We encountered Shiromori again," he says, and Arthur jumps. _Right. He talks now. I forgot. Wait, Shirowhat?_

"It took... quite an effort to evade her, and we bested her by sheer luck," Mystery continues, tone scolding. "I warned you, she's _dangerous_."

There's a vivid flare of pink and they all jump back as Lewis makes a loud, malevolent hissing noise, flames darting up around him. " **Where is it? I'll _kill it!_** " Eyes narrowed dangerously, he glares at the door as though he's expecting the thing to charge through at any moment.

Arthur hears a strange humming noise, and a heaviness builds in the air, like static before a storm. It's very familiar. _Oh no, not again..._

Vivi takes a single, wary step away and Lewis' attention immediately snaps back to her. Following, he pulls roughly at her again, running his hands over her intently.

"Hey!" Vivi squawks, trying to tug her arm back. "Watch those wandering mitts, mister! I know you're like, my boyfriend and stuff, but I don't really know you that well at the moment!" she tries to pry him off but he only gives a low growl, looming over her and refusing to let go. Yanking up her sleeve, he reveals a long, shallow cut, already scabbed over.

Arthur and Mystery stare blankly at them as they scuffle, Lewis tugging at her in distress as Vivi gets increasingly frustrated.

"Would you- just- stop that- _get off_ ," she finally yells, miffed, and gives him another, stronger shove.

Lewis makes a desperate, choked sound and like fog evaporating off a mirror, he fades back into fire and bone. " **Please,** " he begs, his echoing voice sounding strained, " **Arthur's hurt - _I hurt him_ \- and now you're hurt, and I can't- I can't- I can't-**"

" _Vivi,_ " Arthur warns, and opens his hand to show her the locket, the bright gold slowly fading. "I think he's just trying to check you over? He's been prodding at me all day."

"Oh shit," Vivi says eloquently, and jumps forward again to plaster herself to Lewis' side. "I'm fine! It's just scrapes and stuff, I swear!"

" **-it's too much,** " Lewis manages.

"Hells," she says, eyes wide. "What do I do? Do you need to hug Arthur again? Artie, come here-" She breaks off as Lewis all but slams his face into her hair, arms wrapping around her tightly.

" **You could have died,** " he says. " **I just found you again and you could have _died_.**" Picking her up, he swivels, putting himself between her and the door.

"Okay, whoa, easy there." She pats him frantically. "Yeah, you're right, I fucked up - I realised that halfway up a tree. But I'm fine and Mystery's barely scratched and we got home safe and I won't do it again, okay?" She leans back to stare at Arthur. " _Help me out here,_ " she hisses.

Neon flames are once again swirling around the room in panicked circles. Arthur gives them a wary look and shakes his head vigorously.

Vivi's pointed stare turns into a glare and he winces, creeping forward. "Uh... Lew? ...Hey, it's okay, we're- _ack!_ "

In a whirl of motion Lewis has scooped him up too, making a beeline for Mystery. Herding them all to the back of the workshop, he drops them on the floor and backs up, a wall of fire springing up around them.

"Lewis, calm down!" Mystery barks, but Lewis completely ignores him, gathering handfuls of crackling ghost-fire.

"Lewis, don't you dare, _Uncle Lance is outside!_ " Vivi shrieks.

Arthur's eyes grow wide in fear, the memory of Lewis' explosive outburst in the haunted house dancing through his head. Leaping to his feet in a panic, he does the first thing he can think of and barrels straight into him, scrabbling at his arms in an attempt to hold the fire back. " _Wait!_ "

Startled, Lewis drops the fire and catches him, and for a heart-stopping moment he's face-to-skull with his ghostly friend, surrounded by a neon inferno.

Everything seems to pause. _It... doesn't burn?_ Arthur realises with relief. He stares directly into those eerie, luminous eyes and stomps his instincts down. "Lew," he says quietly. "Stop. We're safe."

Lewis hesitates, and Arthur presses his advantage, taking one of his hands in hopes of stopping the flames at the source, pressing the locket between them.

It seems to work, the wall of fire dimming slightly. Lewis stares at him silently. _So that's what a panicked ghost looks like,_ Arthur thinks. "It's alright," he says again, sliding his thumb over Lewis' hand in tiny, soothing circles. "We're alright."

Vivi climbs to her feet, joining them and taking Lewis' other hand. They move automatically, pulling her into their circle, and they all stand there in silence for several minutes, just holding on.

Mystery groans, flopping down on Vivi's feet. "This is too much excitement for one day."

The charged feeling in the air slowly fades as Lewis calms. " **Safe?** "

"Yeah," Vivi says. "We've got time to plan, cool your heels. Uh, literally. They're still on fire."

There's a flicker and the wall of flame peters out, the chaotic swirls in the air slowly dissipating. " **...Sorry.** " Lewis droops sadly, clutching at them.

"It's okay," Arthur says, slow and steady despite his pounding heart. "What's the plan, Vi?"

"Simple enough. We go home," Mystery says.

" **Leave?** " Lewis asks uncertainly.

"Our place is on the second floor," Vivi explains. "It'll be safer up there where she can't pop out of the ground. And we can put a ward up. Maybe two, actually..."

Arthur frowns. "It'll take a bit to get the van working-" he starts, but Vivi shakes her head.

"Your uncle's actually fixing it up right now. That's why he's outside - he said he'd be done soon. Pretty nice of him!"

Arthur smiles wryly. "Eh, he probably wants his workshop back and... uh, not haunted." He gives Lewis an awkward shrug. "He'll have customers coming in tomorrow."

"Okay then. So we go home quickly and keep a lookout, stay inside up where she can't reach us, and ward the door for good measure. That gives us plenty of time to plan our next move. What do you think?" Vivi eyes Lewis carefully.

"It's a good plan," Arthur says encouragingly. "Very safe."

" **.........Okay.** "

"How about you do a perimeter check now?" Vivi suggests. "Arthur and I will wait here until Lance finishes."

"Uh, try not to scare Uncle Lance. Please."

" **Okay, I can do that,** " Lewis says dubiously, and promptly doesn't move to do anything of the sort.

Vivi and Arthur glance at each other. "We'll stay right here with Mystery, I swear," Arthur says soothingly. "We'll open up the windows so you can see us."

Lewis fixes them with a very skeptical look, but apparently decides to give them the benefit of the doubt, gradually loosening his grip. Taking the locket from Arthur, he floats slowly through the wall to begin his search.

Vivi waits until he's out of earshot and then blows out a gusty sigh. " _Wow_ , those sure are some protective instincts. We have _got_ to figure out how to stop setting him off."

"Hey, no one exploded or nearly got thrown off a cliff this time!" Arthur points out.

" _What._ "

"Nothing! Let's get these windows open, huh?"

\-----

Lance scrubs at his hands with a rag and gives the side of the van a last thump. "Got the kit?"

Arthur shows him the first-aid box. "Yeah, thanks. I'll bring it back soon."

"Lance, I'm borrowing the tarp," Vivi says, marching past with it crumpled in her arms.

Lance snorts at her. "Yeah, you might need it more'n me."

Vivi climbs into the van to rummage around in the back, and Lance takes Arthur by the arm, pulling him a few steps away. "You sure about this, kid?"

"Yeah. I know this has been a pretty bad few days-"

"Days, hell," his uncle says, poking him in the chest. "Try _year_. Make sure you don't need that thing," he raps on the kit box. "That means you don't go doing anything else stupid, you hear? I'm running short on family." He eyes Lewis skeptically. " _Living_ family."

Arthur shuffles his feet, embarrassed. "Yeah, okay."

" _Hmph._ " Lance claps him on the shoulder with his usual brusque affection and shoos him away.

Checking on Vivi, Arthur finds organised chaos, their equipment strewn around the back of the van. "What do we need a tarp for?"

"Ghost disguise," Vivi explains shortly. Arthur decides not to ask. Stepping around to the driver's side, he almost bumps into Lewis.

They reach for the handle at the same time and stop.

"Um," says Arthur.

" **Ah,** " says Lewis.

" _Nope,_ " says Vivi. "You've got a concussion and ghosts don't have licenses. And Mystery's a dog. I'm driving!"

There's a collective wince, even from Lance, and she huffs indignantly. "It's not that far! It'll be fine!"

"Easy on the clutch!" calls Lance.

"That was _one time-_ "

Arthur climbs into the back seat, and to his surprise Lewis joins him. They eye the buckled panel and Lewis fiddles sheepishly with his fingers. " **Sorry. Again.** "

"Yeah, well, you're helping me fix it," Arthur says.

" **You haven't changed it much...?** "

"We haven't changed much of anything. Haven't really had time, we've been busy l-" Arthur trails off. "Uh, we've just been busy," he finishes lamely, but Lewis seems to understand.

It's an agitated drive home. The sun has almost set and both Mystery and Lewis are twitchy, peering out into the gloom and trying to keep a lookout in every direction at once. Arthur nervously watches Vivi in case she forgets yet again what the brake pedal is for, but they make the short drive without incident.

Parking in their usual spot, Vivi sticks her head out, glancing around. "Looks like the coast is clear. You two get upstairs before anyone sees our wanted criminal," she smirks. "Mystery and I will grab the gear."

Arthur feels like an absolute dork, skulking around in the night, but their luck holds and no one sees them. It's just as well - Lewis glows faintly in the dark, and no amount of sneaking is going to hide a seven-foot skeleton ghost.

Arthur shoves at the door, lock sticking as per usual, and swings it open. Taking Lewis by the hand, he gently pulls him inside, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. It's not exactly how he hoped it would happen, but just being able to say it...

He smiles weakly, gesturing around the tiny apartment. "Welcome home, Lew."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout again to the Ghost Peppers Discord for helping me with American Culture and Slang 101!  
>   
> Also if anyone wants to ask stuff or talk about MSA you can send me an ask over on my [tumblr](https://flash-the-geist.tumblr.com/), if that's your thing? :3  
>   
> P.S. Comments make the author glow in the dark!


	10. Routine Maintenance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I feel like 90% of what I'm writing is dialogue. It's not getting boring, is it?? :S

Lewis stands in their kitchen and feels very out of place.

It's recognisably their home - some of Arthur's tools are scattered along the bench tops, and he spies a handful of Vivi's scrawled translations in a pile on the tiny table. He's done three circuits of the little apartment so far and there are small pieces of their lives in every room.

Nothing of his, though.

He drifts back to the front door. Vivi's muttering to herself, fetching yet another indecipherable book from the shelf and flipping through it. Reaching what seems to be the right page, she holds it up next to the row of sigils chiselled into the doorframe. Squinting in concentration, she shows Mystery.

He tilts his head at it. "Closer," he decides.

Shaking her head, Vivi tosses it onto the growing pile beside her.

" **No good?** " Lewis asks, straightening the discarded books into a stack, and she hums in thought.

"The first line is good, but the second won't tie into the first sigil properly without creating a feedback loop. I've nearly got it," she says distractedly, selecting another book. "Why don't you go check on Arthur?"

Leaving them to it, he sticks his head into the living room. Sitting on their lone sofa, Arthur's sorting through a pile of gadgets, putting them in different boxes according to some mystifying Arthur-system. He glances up when he sees Lewis, then away again. "Had a good look around?"

Lewis nods. " **What are you doing?** "

Arthur points at the boxes in turn. "Needs upgrading, needs fixing, and doesn't need fixing." He sighs. "And before you worry, yes, I'll wait a bit before I get started. Not much I can do until I get the spare out of storage, anyway." He taps his shoulder.

Lewis nods, hovering awkwardly, and when Arthur goes back to sorting he floats back to the kitchen. He feels a bit unnecessary, on the outskirts of their well-worn routine where once he would have been in the middle of it. _I've done nothing but cause problems for them._ He wishes he hadn't lost it again, earlier. What had he been _thinking_ , nearly burning down the workshop?

_What can I do to help them? Hmm, they haven't eaten yet..._

The idea of contributing something, no matter how small, makes him feel better. Investigating the cupboards, he at last finds some signs of his old life - the sturdy set of cookware that he bought, a high-quality set of chef's knives, and - he chuckles, unfolding an extremely kitschy tea towel. Setting them all out, he opens the fridge.

He stares blankly at the contents for a long moment, closes the door, and opens the pantry. _Oh no._

Shaking his head in disbelief, he goes back to the fridge for a second opinion, and yes - it's very definitely empty, a single, half-empty bottle of milk and a very sad lettuce the only items in an otherwise barren wasteland.

His second check of the pantry turns up three cans of soup and a packet of instant noodles, and with a deep sense of foreboding he stares down the tiny freezer.

Gingerly opening the door, his suspicions are confirmed - the shelves are crammed full of microwave meals.

... _Surely_ things didn't get this dire without him around. Surely?

" **So, um. You've been... getting along alright without me?** " he asks delicately.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Vivi joins him and immediately spots the saucepans on the counter. She glances at the freezer. "Oh no. Uh, Artie...?" she calls. "Lewis has discovered our shame."

Appearing in the kitchen, Arthur looks where she's pointing and then ruffles his hair, embarrassed. "Oh."

" **At least that's something I can do for you. Until we figure out how else I can help?** "

"What? Oh, Lewis, no." Vivi's expression falls. "You don't have to do that. It doesn't really seem fair, since you can't... you know. Eat."

" **Oh. But... how can I make things up to you?** "

"Lew, you really don't need to-" Arthur starts, but Mystery interrupts him.

"He can if he wishes. It would be a thousand times better than _those_ ," he says, giving the freezer a disdainful look.

Lewis hovers uncertainly. " **That was my job, cooking for the team. Vivi's the paranormal expert, and Arthur makes all those gadgets... I can barely control this,** " he holds up a hand, displaying a tiny spark. " **If you don't want me to cook... What can I do now?** "

They trade glances. "You're wrong," Vivi says, eyes sad. "How could you think that? We've had so much trouble with you gone. And I don't just mean the food."

"You don't understand what it's been like without you." Arthur fidgets with the hem of his shirt, looking suddenly devastated, and Lewis takes an automatic step toward him. "It's been..."

"Miserable."

"Awful."

Lewis glances between them. " **...It can't have been that bad.** "

The look Mystery gives him is almost scornful. "You think so?"

"We ran out of gas _so many times_ ," says Vivi.

"We left on a week-long roadtrip in winter and eight hours down the road we realised we forgot the sleeping bags, the thermals, and _water_ ," says Arthur.

"Arthur once held the map upside down for two days before we realised and had to backtrack."

"And then we got lost anyway," Mystery points out snottily.

"One time," Arthur reports solemnly, "we were investigating this old house and the floor fell in. We got stuck in this dingy old basement for a whole day before we remembered we'd packed rope."

"We could have gotten out the _whole time_."

"We're lucky we didn't _starve_."

Lewis is certain that if he had a jaw, it would currently be on the floor. " **What,** " he says faintly.

"There's a _bunch_ of stuff that's usually your job, only I couldn't remember it, or we kept assuming the other'd done it, or we were _completely useless at it_. So yeah." Vivi purses her lips.

Arthur gives him a serious look. "Lewis. We didn't lose the team cook. You're in charge of navigation and supplies and planning, and getting the local gossip and finding leads, and you're the best at thinking on your feet, and _Vivi had to do your share of the driving._ " He runs a hand through his hair, looking extremely tired. "It's been a... it's been a _nightmare_ , to be honest."

Vivi nods in grim agreement.

Lewis looks back and forth between them, suddenly seeing the apartment through new eyes. It's clean, but completely spartan - neither of them have ever been much for decorating. Vivi's got her books out but all her little knick-knacks are missing. He hasn't spotted a single schematic or half-complete mechanical project, when normally he'd be tripping over them. No kitschy souvenirs, nothing in the fridge, no posters on the walls...

...It's almost but not- _quite_ a home. It's missing something.

 _It's me,_ he realises with a pang. _I'm missing._

" **I am _never_ leaving you alone again.**"

They sigh in relief.

\-----

Now unpacked and warded, various cuts and scrapes treated, they fix up two meals and curl up on the sofa together. It's calming, sitting like this, all of them within eyesight, safe and sound.

Lewis examines Mystery, lying in a ball in front of the heater, nose tucked under his tail. It's odd to see him back in his familiar shape - he'd only seen it for a few minutes, but even that brief glimpse of Mystery's true form makes it difficult to imagine how he can shrink back into something the size of a lapdog.

Arthur keeps flicking little glances at him, taking distracted bites of the unappetising food whenever Vivi nudges him.

In contrast, Vivi devours her dinner in about thirty seconds flat, then sets the plate aside and looks him over, her insatiable curiosity clear on her face. Reaching out, she taps a fingernail lightly on the back of his hand. "You feel so solid," she says, turning it over to prod at his palm. "Definitely solid, and unexpectedly warm?" She yanks his hand up to her face, peering at it intently. "Ooh, that's so weird! What on earth are you made of?"

Lewis tips his head at her, puzzled. _I've never thought about it before._ " **I don't know?** "

"Oh, here we go," Mystery shakes his head in affectionate resignation. "Here come the questions. Brace yourself, Lewis."

"Sorry, it's just so _interesting_ ," Vivi says, moving Lewis' hand in and out of the lamplight. "You absorb light? Are you made of, what, _shadow_? How does that even work? And this," she traces along the back of his fingers and up his arm, sliding her hand up his sleeve, "is it meant to be armour? How far up does it go?"

The light touch makes him shiver. " **Um?** "

"Vivi, dear, you're going to make him self-conscious," Mystery scolds.

Ignoring him, Vivi drops Lewis' hand in favour of squinting at his skull, wiggling her fingers back and forth in front of his face to watch his eyes track. "Can you see colour?"

" **Yes?** " Lewis feels a burst of affection and amusement. He's missed her inquisitive nature. " **Maybe more than before?** "

" _What_ that is _so cool_." Vivi beams in delight. "Argh, I have so many questions I wanna ask - it's so great that you can talk."

"You sounded surprised by that, before," Arthur says quietly. "Why's that?"

"We-ellll, only certain types of spirits have been known to speak to the living. Most are completely silent or they just kinda, you know... howl. So yeah, I was pretty surprised when you spoke to me." Vivi pauses. "How are you talking without a tongue, I wonder?"

" **I don't know,** " Lewis says, a little defensively. " **The same way I'm talking without lungs?** "

"Hey, do this!" she says, and sticks her tongue out at him, getting a flat glare in response. 

Mystery huffs, rolling over sleepily. "Children, please."

Vivi goes back to her inspection, prodding at his ribs and unsuccessfully trying to peel the fabric of his jacket away. The sensation makes him jump slightly. It doesn't tickle, exactly... It's more like the _echo_ of a tickle?

"What the hell?" She pokes him again. "They're not connected to anything. Check this out, Artie."

"That's great, Vivi," he replies flatly, staring at his dinner, and they both turn to look at him.

"Arthur?" she says, her enthusiasm dulling slightly. "You okay?"

Arthur glances at them again, then sighs and pushes his plate away. Avoiding the question, he brushes a finger over Lewis' hand. "Does it... hurt?"

Lewis considers his answer, eventually deciding to go with honesty. " **It used to. It doesn't now. I think this helps.** " He touches the locket lightly, glancing down at it, and it pulses a bright, happy gold. " **And this,** " he adds, taking their hands in his. " **You chased the horrible ache away.** "

Arthur nods mutely, staring at their intertwined fingers.

 _He's not looking at me again._ " **I know I'm... different,** " he says carefully. " **It took me a while to get used to it. I guess it's hard, because you remember me... before?** "

Vivi cocks her head at him. "Is it okay to talk about this now? I don't want you to, uh, explode again."

" **I don't think that's the first time that's happened,** " Lewis comments.

"You mean, while you were stuck...?" Vivi asks.

" **I don't really remember too well,** " he says, skirting the truth, " **and I don't think I want to.** " Lewis studies the floor. _I definitely don't want to. Better for it all to stay one big painful blur._

Arthur squeezes his hand sympathetically, and Lewis absently reaches over and plucks him up, settling him once again in his lap and wrapping an arm around him.

Arthur allows this, darting Vivi a nervous look, but she just snickers at his expression. "Wow, you sure do like clinging to Artie!"

" **I'd cling to both of you, but I don't want to... press,** " he explains awkwardly. " **I know you don't remember me. I don't want you to feel...** " _I couldn't bear it if you pushed me away again._

She quirks a smile. "Hey, like I said - I may not remember you, but I feel like I _know_ you. And almost everything I know about you, I learned from Arthur. How could I _not_ love you a little, after that?"

Arthur gapes at her, and she gives him a knowing look.

"I mean, you'd think you hung the moon, the way he carried on-"

"Hey!" Arthur squawks, finding his voice.

"He's very convincing," she finishes with a smirk.

Lewis sighs sadly, heart full. " **I wish I could kiss you both again.** "

"Kiss us _both_ again?" Vivi says, and he can practically hear the gears in her brain turning until the light goes on. "Wait. Did you two actually _talk?_ " She blinks at them, a grin dawning across her face. "...I'll be damned."

"Um?" says Arthur, shoulders going up as he shrinks into himself slightly, ears turning red.

"Oh? Was it that good?"

" **Yes.** "

Arthur makes a strangled noise. " _Lew_ -"

" _Hmmmm,_ " says Vivi. "So what did you talk about?"

He can feel Arthur tensing up, and he strokes a hand down his side, trying to put him more at ease. Ever observant, Vivi doesn't miss the motion, and when she tilts a brow at him he gives her a subtle nod.

He's not sure what she's figured out about their relationship - how strange must it be for her, to suddenly be missing so many pieces of this awkward, interconnected dance they've all been doing with each other for years? - but Vivi's always been extraordinarily quick on the uptake. She's probably put enough of the pieces together that memory issues or no, they're both completely on the same page.

"Apparently we're both your boyfriends," Arthur blurts out.

She studies him, eyes glinting. "And... is that what you want?" she asks neutrally.

Arthur squirms, trapped by Lewis' arm and Vivi's intent gaze. His eyes flick around, landing on Mystery, who's snoring away - no help from that quarter. A moment later he slumps. "Yes," he says nervously.

"Oh good." Vivi leans in toward him and his eyes widen in a look of mild panic, but she merely tilts his head to the side and plants a soft kiss on his cheek.

" _Um?_ " Arthur says again, blinking rapidly as she applies the same treatment to the other. "Vi.....? What are you...?"

"Relax, okay?" she runs a thumb along his jaw, making a _tsk_ noise at the bruises. "I don't want to rush you. Unlike _some_ people." True to her word, she starts slowly peppering his face with kisses.

Lewis watches with interest as each one turns him a slightly darker shade of red. Arthur wriggles, making tiny, flustered noises of surprise. It quickly sets Vivi giggling, her smile widening until she's not so much kissing as smushing her teeth on him, and soon Arthur is laughing with her.

" _Vivi,_ " he smiles at her, and Lewis can feel the undercurrent of _anxiety_ start to dissipate, giving way to steady _affection_ , bright and oh-so familiar.

Smirking wickedly, Vivi leans in again intently only to veer at the last second and plant a kiss on his nose. Jerking back, Arthur growls in frustration and hooks his hand into her scarf, almost reflexively dragging her forward into a proper kiss.

Entranced, Lewis snakes a hand up Arthur's shirt, planting it right over his heart. Twining the other around one of Vivi's wrists, he strokes the delicate skin over her pulse. Vivi hums, a delighted sparkle of satisfaction, quickly taking control. Bracing herself on Lewis' shoulder, she pushes into the kiss, pinning Arthur between them.

Arthur releases his grip on her scarf, hesitantly sliding his hand up to tangle in her hair, and the soft, _wanting_ noise he makes has Lewis' heart skipping.

Pulling back, Vivi grins like the cat that got the canary. "There, now we've all kissed each other." She widens her eyes, putting on an officious tone. " _The circle is complete._ "

Arthur swats her, sighing in exasperation. "Now you've gone and ruined the moment. You're a terror."

Lewis feels like he's practically glowing, his heart singing along with Arthur's relieved wonder and Vivi's sly contentment. " **Oh,** " he says. " **Oh. ...Do that again.** "

He must have an odd expression on his face, because Vivi cranes her neck to look at him over Arthur and promptly bursts out laughing. "Wow, you are _so gone_ ," she crows, and pops up to smack a kiss on his cheekbone.

Feeling slightly overwhelmed, he hides his face in Arthur's hair. Arthur pats him in sympathy.

Getting up, Vivi tugs at them both. "I think our ghost needs some hug therapy. Come on, let's go to bed."

" _What?_ " Arthur squeaks again, and she snorts at him.

"To _sleep_ , you dork. It's late and I know you still haven't rested enough. Which reminds me - go take another dose of painkillers."

It's easier to let them go when he knows they're coming back.

"Also I climbed a tree and tackled a demon today, I'm _fucked_. I want to sleep in an actual bed." She gives Lewis a contemplative look. "Should I get you, like, a book or something? Are you going to get bored, watching us sleep?"

 _I'd happily watch paint dry for eight hours straight if I can do it while holding you both,_ he thinks, starry-eyed. " **...No.** "

"Alright then." Vivi piles the dishes up and dumps the lot in the sink. "Tomorrow we'll crack open that book and do some _ghost research!_ " She seems completely delighted at the idea.

Lewis expects it to be awkward, piling up together in Vivi's bed in what should be an uncomfortable tangle, but long trips in a relatively small van have given them lots of practice. By unspoken agreement he and Vivi box Arthur in between them, conscious of his injuries. Despite his grumbling he's out in minutes, the tension in his face relaxing as he falls into a deep sleep.

Vivi surveys him, expression suddenly serious. "I'm... really glad you're back. You have no idea - I'm not sure how much longer Arthur could have held it together," she confesses quietly, almost whispering. "And if he lost it, I'd be pretty close behind him. I dunno what I'd have done without him." She chews her lip, reaching out to take Lewis' hand and lacing their fingers together.

He has _got_ to figure out how this form-shifting thing works - maybe Mystery would have some advice? - because he wants desperately to reassure her, to kiss the tension off her face until she's smiling again. " **I won't go anywhere,** " he promises, just as he promised Arthur.

"Good." She steals the locket off his chest, tucking it into her pyjama top. "Got your heart, anyway. Good luck leaving without it."

 _It's yours anyway,_ he thinks. _It always has been._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy your Lewvithurrrr  
>   
> Lewis has _opinions_ on the nutritional value of ready meals.  
>   
> P.S. Comments make the author invent more kitschy souvenirs for the Skulls' kitchen!


	11. Ex Idea Forma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me longer because it is _so big_ I had to split it in half; I should have the next part up in a few days!  
>   
> Anyway, prepare for some _exposition._

When Vivi drifts awake there's a prickle behind her eyes that warns of an incoming headache.

She's all too familiar with the feeling, but she hasn't had a memory-headache in _months_. Maybe the chaos of the last few days has been enough to trigger one? _Ugh, I thought I was done with these._

There's a tickling sensation in her nose and she brushes Arthur's hair out of her face. He's rolled again during the night - he's always been a restless sleeper - and gone full koala, his hand gripping the back of her shirt, face nestled under her chin. She can feel the little puffs of his breath against her collarbone.

Cracking her eyes open, she grins. His hair is clearly suffering after a few days of neglect; he's going to have one fantastic mohawk when he wakes up. She lifts her head to point this out to Lewis, but the space behind Arthur is empty.

 _Hmm. Investigating the place again? Judging the contents of our fridge?_ She should probably get up and find him, cobble together some breakfast, take some more painkillers, but... on the other hand, she's warm and comfortable, and Arthur is _finally_ catching up on some rest.

She takes a moment to look him over properly. Asleep, he can't hide behind his usual facade - she's pretty good at seeing through his brave face and his "I'm fine"s, but every so often she likes to examine him like this, when he's unguarded and still. Just to make _sure_.

He looks... better, actually. There's less tension in his face. The shadows under his eyes don't seem as deep. The way he's holding on to her, though... he doesn't normally cling so tight. _Bad memories,_ she decides. _Don't worry, Artie... I won't disappear on you._ She combs his hair back from his face, trying to set it to some sort of order, and he stirs.

"Mrgh?"

She cracks a smile. "Morning, sunshine."

"Guh," he replies, eyes fluttering open, and she can pinpoint the exact moment he realises his position because he starts turning a lovely crimson. She's counting down to his sputtered apology when he pauses and goes still, staring fixedly at her chest.

_Hmm? Well I know they're pretty great, but-_

"Uh, Vivi," he says hesitantly, "weird question, but... why are your boobs glowing?"

Confused, she glances down. "Oh right! I forgot." Fishing in her top, she produces Lewis' focus.

Arthur raises an eyebrow, then looks around the room. Frowning, he sits up. "Lewis?"

"Dunno, but he won't have gone far." She tugs him back down, cupping his face gently. "Hey. Before we go looking for him... you okay?"

He blinks at her, puzzled. "Yeah?"

"Uh huh," she says drily. "You crashed the van, had a... _showdown_ with Lewis, found out what happened in your missing memories, tore off your arm, made out with your best friends, and then tried to tackle a ghost. And you're... totally fine with all of that?"

He breaks his gaze away from hers, staring down at the pillow. "Okay. I'm... freaking out. A bit."

"A _bit_. Oh, Artie," she sighs, and catches him up in a hug. He immediately latches back onto her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "That's alright, you know. It's been _crazy_."

"Yeah," he breathes faintly.

"We're gonna talk a _lot_ , later, but... don't worry about the whole _us_ thing, okay? We're gonna take it slow and it'll be fine. We'll work it out, all three of us."

His hand tightens, gripping the back of her shirt. "Oh, _that's_ going to be a great conversation. ...How are you always so sure about these things-"

"I love you."

Arthur freezes, pulling back to stare at her.

"That's why I'm sure. That and I'm _really good_ at talking." She grins, petting a hand through his hair fondly.

" _Oh_ ," he says, wide-eyed, and takes a deep breath. "...I-"

"I _know_ you do, you dork," she smirks, and plants a loud, smacking kiss on his forehead. "Now go put your arm on and take a shower, you smell and your hair looks like you've gone punk."

"...You are the most _impossible -_ "

"Shut up, you looove me," she chirps, and then winces slightly, rubbing at her temple.

Arthur frowns. "Hey. Are _you_ okay?"

"I'm getting some warning signs," she says pointedly, massaging both sides of her head, and he immediately goes on alert, throwing her a concerned look.

"Shit. Painkillers, story, or rest?"

"Painkillers. And book."

His eyebrows tick up. "I wasn't aware that was an option."

"I went through a lot to get that book, we're looking at it _today_ , headache be damned."

"I hope it's worth it, after all this."

"It is. Now let's go _give you a hand._ "

"Ha- _ha_. That wasn't funny the first ten times," he grumbles.

\-----

They find Lewis hovering at the front window, staring fixedly at the street outside. Mystery is perched next to him, ears standing straight up like a rabbit's.

"Morning!" Vivi chirps at them, heading for the kitchen and the medicine cabinet. "Oh my god you did the dishes. I'm keeping you."

" **The demon is here.** "

Vivi pauses, swivelling to face him. Arthur dashes to the window to peer around Lewis. She follows, taking the medicine bottle with her, and they all press their faces against the glass.

There - a half-concealed smear of white in the trees. That _definitely_ wasn't there yesterday.

"She's just... standing there," Mystery grumbles. Arthur kneels next to him to give him a tentative pat, and Mystery rubs his head against his hand appreciatively.

Lewis glares balefully at it, his voice low and _menacing_. " **If I go through the door, will the ward break?** "

Vivi frowns in displeasure, heading back to the kitchen for a glass of water. "I'm actually not sure. They might not register you as the same type of energy... or they might, in which case the second line will... activate."

At that, Lewis picks Arthur up and moves him away from the door. " **We can't stay here forever. You have no food. You need to _eat_**."

"There's some supplies with the van equipment," Arthur suggests, and Lewis makes a crackly, unhappy noise, eyes darting back to the window.

"Hey, we're not going to stay here forever. We're _regrouping_. It's _good_ that she's here - we know the ward is keeping her out."

"Lew." Arthur tugs at his sleeve. "You can put me down now."

For a moment she thinks he won't, then his shoulders drop slightly and he sets Arthur gently on his feet, releasing him slowly. _His control is better than yesterday. Score one for hug therapy!_

It's a quick, efficient breakfast. Vivi shoos Arthur off to clean up and then puts her pitiful cooking skills to good use, converting a whole loaf of bread into toast. Stuffing her face, she watches Arthur awkwardly tighten the straps of his spare arm, explaining the process to a fascinated Lewis.

Headache well and truly dulled by the magic of medicine and a hot shower, Vivi _finally_ retrieves her hard-earned tome, banging the battered book onto the table. _Poor thing, it's been through a lot._ "So. Let's talk about the skeleton in the room."

" **Me?** " asks Lewis.

She rolls her eyes. "No, the other one."

"I feel like we have a more immediate problem, you know," Arthur says, giving the front door a significant look. "Does that book say anything about the demon outside?"

"She's not a demon, exactly," Mystery says, curled up in a patch of sunlight. In the bright light his snowy fur almost seems to glow.

"What is she then?"

"A hungry spirit."

"Hungry for... what?" Arthur asks reluctantly, as though he doesn't want to know the answer.

"Blood."

"Ah." He grimaces. "Of course. And here I was hoping it would be Doritos-"

Vivi shakes her head. "There's nothing like her in the book. It's only about ghosts." She taps the front cover. "People have been writing about ghosts and the paranormal since forever. Every culture has something to say about them, and it's all totally different. There are some people trying to pull it all together into a scientific study, though, and publish texts."

"Like your family?" Arthur asks.

"Yeah." She opens the tome, the spine crackling sadly. _I am gonna owe Duet like five translations for this._ "This is one of the better texts. The best one is the 'Guide to Spiritual Entities' but it's written in this old Chinese dialect I can't read, and I've never been able to track down a translation."

They all lean over the book.

" **Uh, Vivi... this is in Latin.** "

"Yeah. Like I said, it's an older one, which is better - it was written way before all those weird paranormal regulations in the twenties. Anyway I've translated this one before but all the copies are sold out, so I just... convinced Duet to lend me an original."

"What's this mean?" Arthur taps the title page.

" _'Ex Idea Forma'_? Uhh, something like - 'out of thought comes form'? The common scientific term for ghosts is 'thoughtforms', which comes from a Tibetan word..." Flicking through the pages, she searches for the section on spectral entities, shifting into lecture mode. "So when people come back, they almost always form as a type of spectre. There's remnant ghosts, which we've seen a few of-"

"-I remember," Arthur mutters. "Like see-through people."

"-there are guardian spirits, which are rare but usually locked to a location, and then there's... uh, the more hostile ones. Like vengeful spirits."

" **...and that's what I am?** "

"Uh, well. It's the only thing that, um, looks... that's close to how you...." Instead of putting her foot further into her mouth, Vivi swivels the book around and shows them the picture.

" _Holy shit_ ," says Arthur, wincing and flicking a glance at Lewis.

On the page is a faded sketch of a tall shadowy figure, vaguely human-looking in its general shape and size, but any similarity to a living person ends there. Its hands and legs are elongated, armoured in jagged bone spikes, the ends tipped with long, curved talons. Its body is emaciated, the face a silent scream, rows and rows of sharklike fangs erupting from its jaws. It's twisted as though about to strike, one long, claw-tipped limb outstretched as though reaching out of the page. The artist, Vivi notes with a grimace, has kindly thought to ink the end of the claws in a dark brown-red.

Lewis looks it over, expressionless, then raises his hands and stares at them. " **...What does it say?** "

Vivi drags the book back over and flicks back a few pages. _It's been a while since I did Latin. How the fuck does the ablative work, again...?_ "Okay. Rough translation." She clears her throat.

" _There are many known cases where encounters with spectres have turned to tragedy. Indeed, one might say that hostility is the most common behaviour displayed by..._ blah blah blah... _...ensure that any sighting of a vengeful spirit is reported_ , blah... ah, here. _The vengeful dead return with purpose, and will pursue that purpose single-mindedly, often to the detriment of the living, the target, and indeed any unfortunate creature in the vicinity of its wrath._ "

Arthur eyes Lewis suspiciously. Lewis returns the stare, eyes wide, and raises his hands in surrender.

" _Often the manifested spirits of the murdered or unjustly slain, the most common pursuit of this spirit is revenge. Tethered to the world by their purpose, they wander restlessly, seeking to satiate their desire for retribution._

" _In attitude they mimic the behaviour of carnivorous predators such as the spider or large cat, pursuing and ambushing their quarry. There have been some (unconfirmed) reports of vengeful spirits constructing traps._

" _Despite this indication of intelligence appealing to their humanity, as with remnant ghosts, is not recommended. Mercy is beyond them. They cannot be appeased, regardless of their character in life._ "

" **What.** " Lewis says flatly.

"Uhh... there's a bit more. _Those who would banish the vengeful spirit are urged to use extreme caution. Many experienced hunters have attempted, and subsequently failed, to contain or exorcise these spirits, with brutally fatal results. A force of no less than five is recommended, equipped and prepared..._ Holy shit." Vivi looks up from the page, taking a deep breath.

"I don't get it," Arthur says slowly. "If all that were true you wouldn't... uh," he flaps a hand at Lewis, "you wouldn't have made me _toast_ , that's for sure."

Vivi grins. "Is that your purpose, Lewis? Feed Arthur?"

" **Uh... sure? I don't know what it means by _purpose_**."

Vivi hums, trying to figure out a delicate way to ask the question. "When you... woke up. What did you feel? Did you... I don't know, feel a drive? Like an impulse?"

" **I looked for you all. I needed to find you.** " Those wide, luminous eyes fix on hers. " **I needed you but I couldn't find you...** "

 _Ouch. That must have been painful, being abandoned by his anchors as soon as he'd formed..._ She flicks Arthur a _look_ , trying to send him a signal, and he cottons on immediately. Sliding over to Lewis, he leans against him and reaches over to take the locket. She watches as Lewis slowly curls an arm around him, trying not to spook him, and snorts to herself. _These two are just so cute._

"So you look like a vengeful spirit, but uh, obviously something's different. Do you... want revenge?"

Lewis considers that for a little _too_ long to be comfortable, given what she's just read. " **I'd like to... _say a few words_ to the thing that killed me, yes.**" He flares a little brighter.

"So what about this, then?" Arthur asks, tapping Lewis' heart, not-so-subtly trying to change the subject. "What's a focus?"

Vivi flips back through the book until she finds the chapter. "It's... literally that. It _focuses_ energy."

"Energy from what?"

"If I may?" Mystery says, finally looking away from the window to join in the conversation.

"By all means, fill in our _missing knowledge_ ," Vivi says brightly.

Mystery gives her sad puppy-dog eyes, and she sighs, subsiding. "My knowledge of _human_ spirits is somewhat limited, but I have seen some things in my time. I've rarely seen a ghost with two anchors. Only twice before, in fact, and a very long time past."

Both boys look at her questioningly, and she racks her brain, putting this new information into her puzzle. "An anchor is what keeps a ghost in the here-and-now. It's like... stability? And then a focus channels the connective energy... huh. Hey Lew, what's your favourite food?"

Lewis tips his head at her. " **Besides mom's cooking? The Chocolate Covered Bhut Jolokia Special!** "

"What kind of books do you like?"

" **Uh...romance novels, I guess?** "

She nods contemplatively. "And, hmm... what's the last movie we watched together?"

Lewis drums the table, the fire of his eyes narrowing as he thinks. " **...I don't remember. Some horror flick you loved and Arthur hated.** "

Vivi looks at Arthur. "Is all that correct?"

"Yeah." He gives her a strange look.

"Alright, Lew, you're a really _weird_ ghost. You look like a vengeful spirit but you're obviously not _entirely_ \- you have a solid grasp on your personality, and your memory seems intact. It could be because you have two anchors _and_ a focus. You're drawing a lot of energy from us, more than enough to keep you stable."

" ** _What?!_** " Arthur nearly goes flying as Lewis explodes out of his chair, backing away towards the wall. " **I'm... _eating_ you?!**"

" _No,_ Lewis," Mystery says firmly, "no. You're not hurting them."

His eyes dart between them all. " **Are you _sure_ -**"

" _Very_ ," Vivi says reassuringly. "Anchors are called that because they're _anchored_ into emotions and memory and stuff. It's not like you can run out of those. Uh, curses notwithstanding." Lewis still looks uncertain, so she reaches her hand out to him. "Hey. It's fine. Get over here."

He does, albeit slowly. Arthur watches him with concern and clamps his hands around the focus protectively. "Should we, I don't know, hide this somewhere? If something happened to it..."

"I wouldn't worry about that," she says. "They're almost impossible to destroy. You'd need special equipment... a _kīla_ maybe."

They all contemplate that for a while.

"Uh, I have a question," Arthur says tentatively. "You looked like your old self for a bit yesterday. How did you do that?"

"Oh yeah!" Vivi exclaims. "That was awesome! Like you switched into a remnant ghost except... tangible. Huh. You know, you're really _solid_ for a ghost."

" **I don't know how I did that. We were trying to fix Arthur's memory-** "

"Wait, wait. You were _what?_ " Vivi says flatly.

Arthur cringes. "It was my idea-"

"Of _course it was_ -"

" **It didn't work, but... I wanted to prove it wasn't his fault. So we found some... memories. It was nice...** "

 _Well that's something I've never heard of before._ "You... _looked_ at his memories."

Arthur nods. "And then he looked all... normal. Except for his eyes. Well, you saw."

_Oh boy did I ever._

"What kind of memories?" Mystery asks, head tilted to one side as Arthur explains them briefly. "Hmm. You were present in all of them, Lewis?"

" **I don't think I can see the ones I'm not in. Or... it doesn't _feel_ like a good idea to try.**"

"A-ha!" Vivi exclaims. "Maybe that's the trick - you need to remember what it was like to be... you. Before. Or something, I'm totally making that up, there's absolutely nothing in any book I've read about ghosts seeing _memories_. More importantly, you need to try and fix me."

All three of them look at her like she's suddenly started spouting Latin.

"...My broken memories? Remember those? Come on, let's go, how do we do this? Do I gotta... stare at you or something-" Plucking at Lewis' sleeve, she tries to tug him into motion.

" **...Now?** "

" _Yes_ now," she snaps, "do you know how long this has been driving me up the wall?!" She prods him in frustration, and the fact that he doesn't jump at all just adds to her impatience.

" **Um... alright then.** "

 _Finally, some movement!_ She shuts her eyes, waiting for him to do... whatever it is that starts the process.

Lewis sits across from her, one hand gripping her shoulder. The other reaches around, gently settling at the nape of her neck, and she tries not to fidget.

...

...

Nothing happens, and she cracks an eye open.

Lewis is completely still, the lights of his eyes flickered down to tiny pinpricks, the confused angle of his head so sharp it looks unnatural.

"...Well?" she asks hopefully.

Lewis shakes his head. " **They're... not there.** "

Arthur frowns. "Like... they're blocked like mine, or...?"

" **No. They're just... _gone._** " He slumps a little.

Vivi's heart sinks. "Oh..."

Arthur takes her hand, squeezing sympathetically.

 _No. No, they can't be gone. Curses don't make things just..._ vanish _like that._

"There's one other option, then. I'll have to try and break the curse at the source." She flicks the pages of the tome, frustrated. "And I need to take a look at that binding spell, anyway. If it's weakened I'll need to reinforce it. We'll go to the cave-"  
  


" **Ṇ͐̓͒O̷̹̰̩̱͉̲ͧͅ!͗̊̓** "

  
Jumping in shock, they all clap their hands over their ears, Mystery hiding under the table with a whine as he paws at his head. Wincing, she looks up at Lewis, and the sight makes her jump out of her chair and quickly back away from him. Arthur's already one step ahead, pulling her with him until they've put the table between them and the sudden _conflagration_ in their kitchen.

Lewis' eyes are a solid wall of flame, massive neon swirls of it gathering around him. She hasn't seen him react this way since they'd first encountered him in that ghostly house- _fuck_.

" _Lewis!_ " Taking a leaf from Arthur's book, she _throws_ herself at him, trying to wrap her small frame around his _ridiculously large_ one and squash the fire down.

His arms immediately clamp around her, pinning her in place. " **NO. NO. NO. NOT AGAIN- NEVER AGAIN-** "

"Hey, easy there, easy!" She frees a hand and strokes down his arms comfortingly.

No dice - he doesn't calm down one bit, actually getting _more_ agitated, his movements sharp and erratic. Snapping his head around, he stalks Arthur, cornering him quickly and pulling him into his iron grip.

Arthur hides his face in his hands, muttering unintelligibly under his breath. She's pretty sure it's one of his breathing exercises, only _ten times faster._

 _Oh, I fucked up again. Shit shit shit._ At least with the both of them wrapped in his arms Lewis can't produce any more _fire_. "Hey," she tries. "It's not like we're going to go marching in there tonight - for all we know it could be a whole 'nother year before it appears again."

Lewis shakes his head violently, but... at least he's listening to her.

"We're gonna _plan_ , okay? We'll be prepared this time."

" **...I don't want to. I don't want to go back,** " he says brokenly, and she chews at her lip, peering up at his face. _He's.... crying,_ she realises with a sickening feeling, tiny trails of fire fluttering down from the corners of his eyes. _I... didn't know he could do that._

It breaks her heart, but... she can't just let this go. It's already taken Lewis from them, and all those _people_ over the years... Who else will fix this, if not her? Who else _can_? "You don't have to come with me. Neither of you do."

Lewis makes a sad, wordless noise, low enough that she feels the vibration in his chest. Arthur takes a deep breath, his hand coming up to brush under Lewis' eyes - he's obviously noticed it too, his face full of compassion. "Lew. We'll talk about it, okay? No one's going anywhere now, and no one's even _thinking_ about going back to that forest for a long time."

Lewis just stares at him silently, and a loud cracking noise comes from the ceiling. "Lew," she says softly, "he's right - we'll be alright. Nothing's going to happen without a lot of time and planning."

There's another, louder crack, and they all look up. Vivi frowns. _The lights probably went in the first fire blast. What's making that sound?_ Glancing at Lewis, she has the sudden sinking feeling that he's not the source of the-

With a screeching crash, a pair of metal blades punch through the plasterboard of the roof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Check out this amazing art](https://loveallthing.tumblr.com/post/182920984836/this-is-for-amazing-fic-if-i-had-to-perish-twice) by [TangShen](https://loveallthing.tumblr.com/) of Vivi being a badass in Chapter 8, whoooaa! (You would not _believe_ the sound I made when I saw this, it was like a cockatoo on helium)  
>   
> P.S. Comments give the author the strength to edit. _So much editing..._


	12. The Best Laid Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You would not _believe_ some of the stuff I googled to write this chapter.

The shears rip through like they're cutting paper.

Faster than thought, Lewis leaps backward as the panel gives way and there's suddenly a _gaping hole_ in the ceiling of their kitchen. Dangling from under his arm, Vivi gapes in shock. _What?_ How? _I got the doors, the windows, all the walls- oh no._ "I... I didn't ward the _roof_. Oh my god I'm an _idiot_ -"

There's a grating shriek and a clattering like branches on metal, and then Shiromori drops down through the hole and lands with a thud, menacing grin fixed on her face, giant shears held out before her threateningly.

Vivi gulps. "C-came back for more, huh? I've still got that book-!"

Shiromori flings out a hand, slapping said book right off the table, and then in a blur of motion she springs over it, headed right for her.

Vivi crashes to the floor mid-shriek as Lewis abruptly drops them both. Blasting forward, he intercepts the hungry spirit with a warning growl and a vicious flare of neon fire, winding back and lunging straight for her face, his hands barely visible through the blaze he holds.

He catches Shiromori mid-leap. She tries to dodge but she's not _quite_ fast enough, taking the hit in the shoulder and tumbling over and away from them, but to Vivi's dismay she immediately scuttles sideways, injured but barely deterred. Lewis circles her, flames licking around in an ever-widening circle, determinedly keeping himself between them.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuckfuck _fuck_ ," she hears Arthur chanting, and then he grabs her foot and drags her backward, as far away from the line of fire as they can get in their tiny kitchen.

Vivi glances around frantically. _I need a fucking weapon._ They're stupidly unarmed, would have been sitting right _under_ where the annoyingly persistent spirit punched through if Lewis hadn't moved them- where the hell is her bat?!

"Fuck, can she- can she hurt him?!" Arthur says, practically pinned to the wall in fear, eyes following each swing of the giant scissors. Vivi shrugs helplessly.

Shiromori is definitely treating Lewis like a threat, making no attempt to get around him, gleefully slicing away. It's a very bizarre scuffle - she lunges over and over, stabbing ineffectually at him as he returns the blows, swooping around to hit her with a blaze so hot it scorches the walls with its intensity. Dishearteningly, despite her tree-like appearance the spirit doesn't seem to burn, and for every limb Lewis blasts off another pops into place like she's a goddamn _hydra_. _What the fuck is this spirit even made of??_

Mesmerised by the battle, she snaps out of it as a strange light radiates from behind them, growing steadily larger. An instant after she recognises the light as _Mystery_ he leaps into the fray, teeth bared, shape blurring and expanding.

Nimbly darting past Lewis, he aims low. Intent on blocking Lewis' next punch, Shiromori has no time to react, and he sinks his jaws deep into her leg and _shakes_. To Vivi's delight she goes down like a felled tree, Mystery immediately pouncing on her and pulling at the limb with a vicious twist.

Shiromori _shrieks_ angrily, that nails-on-a-chalkboard shriek that's becoming concerningly familiar, and with one dreadful slash she _hacks her own leg off_ , growing another almost immediately and twisting away from Lewis' lunge. Back on her feet, she sweeps the shears in front of her, knocking Mystery aside. He lands on all fours, teeth bared back at her, and with a low growl he charges her again.

 _You've gotta do something, dammit!!_ She shoots a look at Arthur, half-formed strategies running through her head, but before she can do anything they're moving again - Lewis plucks them both up like stray kittens and bolts for the door, taking advantage of Shiromori's distraction.

 _Shit!_ She clutches at his jacket, pulling backwards frantically. " _No, stop_ \- you'll activate the wards!"

Lewis screeches to a halt just in time, catapulting backward again, narrowly dodging the bundle of spirit and kitsune that goes rolling past in a growling tangle of limbs and sharp edges, and the three of them watch as they crash _through_ the wall and into the bathroom. The pipes immediately burst, fountains of water adding to the absolute chaos. 

Lewis all but flings them into a corner, and Vivi hits the floor _again_ \- "If you fucking drop me _one more time-!_ " she starts, but Lewis isn't listening, crouched in front of them protectively, almost invisible in the mass of fire he's summoned. It limns his features in unnatural light, his eyes blown huge as his gaze darts back and forth frantically.

With another maniacal, ear-splitting roar Shiromori throws Mystery off, opening the scissors to form two gleaming, sharp points, gathering herself for a brutal strike.

" ** _DOWN!_** " Lewis shouts at Mystery, then tackles her - she _howls_ in frustration, bringing the shears around to bear and _slamming_ them closed with a high-pitched whine of metal scraping on metal...

...directly below Lewis' skull, to absolutely no effect.

Lewis gives her a look of absolute _disdain_ , adjusts his grip, hauls back, and _hurls_ her directly into the front door.

Vivi hears Mystery curse loudly and then she and Arthur are flattened under a mass of white fur as he curls over them in a panic.

The wards explode.

Flung backwards almost too fast to see, Shiromori hits the opposite wall with a loud, threatening crack of brick and wood, the boards denting inward.

There's a split second of silence, then with an ominous groan more of the wall gives way and Vivi sees something in one of the exposed pipes _spark_ \- an ordinary orange spark, not the neon glow of Lewis' ghost-fire-

"OUT!!!" Mystery bellows, and Vivi doesn't need telling twice - she grabs Arthur and hauls him onto Mystery's back. Darting forward, she scoops the old tome off the floor, stuffing it in her sweater.

" _FORGET THE FUCKING BOOK!_ " Arthur yells at her, but Lewis is already scooping her up. They all pelt out the front door, now an empty, mangled frame.

As Mystery jumps right over the railing there's a wild, guttural scream from inside. "` ** _YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER, MUTT!!_**` "

None of them care to respond. Booking it to the van, they slam into it almost hard enough to rock it over, and Vivi shoves Arthur into the driver's seat. "GO!" she shrieks in his ear, and he kicks the engine into gear. They're flying down the road in ten seconds flat, tires skidding wildly on the bitumen.

Vivi waits, muscles tense with shock and adrenaline, listening intently over the sound of their panting breath, and not moments later there's a muffled _boom_ and a dark cloud rises from behind them.

"Shit," says Arthur, "Mrs. Mulroy."

"She's on vacation," Vivi says faintly.

"Oh good," he replies, the whites of his eyes showing all around his pupils.

"That won't stop her forever," Mystery warns.

Lewis, plastered to the back window of the van, growls long and low, the sound a staticky hiss. " **Why won't she _burn?_** "

She shoves at them, trying to find her seat - Mystery, with his now-massive bulk, barely fits in the van by himself let alone with the rest of them packed in there. "If that didn't do it, how do we kill the fucking thing?!" she snaps, spitting out white fur.

"If I _knew_ that then your family wouldn't have had to abandon their home and cross the sea," Mystery snaps back, ears flat against his skull, gaze skittering back and forth along the road. "I don't know how she got here, that shouldn't be _possible_."

 _Shit._ "Shit. She can't be _unstoppable_ , there's got to be _something_."

"It's all been tried! I'm sorry, my dear - I had thought you were safe."

" ** _Why won't she burn?_** " Lewis growls again.

"Good question," Vivi says, "and why is she going after me? And not... I dunno, Grandma or something?"

"...She isn't, my dear. I'm afraid... she's after me."

"Something else you conveniently forgot to mention?" she says archly, tone dark.

"I hadn't thought I would ever need to..." Mystery curls in on himself, seeming to shrink, and a moment later she realises he _is_ shrinking, once again taking on his smaller form. "Perhaps it's best if I lead her away - with her tracking abilities, she'll find me eventually. I need to lure her-"

" **No,** " Lewis hisses, still flaring bright pink sparks. " **Just get her away from town, and I'll try again-** "

"Excuse me, so far I'm the only one who's managed to do her an injury," Vivi points out waspishly. "I didn't even get in a hit this time, so let me-"

" _Absolutely not_ ," Mystery snaps, "This is my responsibility. If I leave-"

"No, I've got to-"

" **Just let me-** "

" _SHUT IT!_ " Arthur suddenly yells, and in their surprise, they all do.

Arthur draws in a long breath. " _No one is leaving_ ," he says quietly, voice uncharacteristically sharp. "We're not splitting up ever again, and we're not rushing in with _stupid ideas_ that get more of us killed."

That immediately silences them all.

Vivi looks Arthur over. He's chalk-white, mouth set in a grim line, and he steers almost mechanically, gripping the wheel with white knuckles.

" **...Artie,** " Lewis says softly, but Arthur shakes his head.

"I said _no_. We're going to find a motel, and Vivi's going ward us a safehouse, and we're going to take the time to make a fucking plan because _bad things happen_ when we run in without a plan."

Vivi and Mystery exchange a _look_.

"Alright then," Mystery concedes with a sigh. "We've bought ourselves some time, at least."

"Yeah, at the cost of our fucking apartment," Vivi groans.

"We all made it out ali- ...we all made it out _safe_. And we're all together," Arthur says stiffly. "I don't give a _shit_ about the apartment." He then removes a hand from the steering wheel long enough to pull Lewis' heart out of his pocket and hold it out to him, having kept it safe the whole time.

She'd totally forgotten about it.

So had Lewis, judging by his sheepish look. " **But, Artie-** "

" _No._ "

And that's that.

Vivi's not sure how Lewis can pout without a face, but he's certainly managing it.

\-----

They drive in silence for a long time.

Mystery looks troubled, his eyes fixed on the van floor, entirely focused on whatever's going through his head. Lewis keeps a wary eye on the road behind them, glaring out at every passing car, and she hopes the people they pass think his shining eyes are just a weird reflection in their windscreen.

Vivi keeps a similar watch on Arthur, but he just frowns steadily at the road ahead, driving the van at breakneck speed - unusual for him, but she's absolutely not complaining.

Eventually they stop in a parking lot. Vivi's not sure what makes this dingy motel better than all the other ones they've passed, but Arthur's apparently made a decision. _He's just full of those today._

Vivi pops out of the van, stretching out and shivering in the cold air, and glances back at her motley crew. "Why here?" she asks Arthur.

"...We're nearly out of gas," he replies.

 _Ah. Shit._ "Guess we're staying here then. Let's get a room and ward 'er up." Arthur doesn't budge, so she flings the driver's side door open. "Come on, get a move on."

Arthur stares down at his hands, still gripping the steering wheel like his life depends on it, and chokes out a laugh. "I... I don't think I can."

 _Oh. Fuck._ "Okay. That's... okay. We can just... sit and breathe for a minute, okay? Take your time." She climbs up to wedge herself next to him, balancing awkwardly on the door, and _now_ she can feel the way he's shaking. _Oh love..._ She rubs his arm comfortingly-

-and then grabs Lewis' hand, stilling it in midair as he reaches out. "Lew, no- don't touch him right now."

Lewis pulls his hand back like he's been burned, his eyes going big and sad, and she flaps at him frantically. "No, not because- I mean you really don't want an emotion transfer right now."

"Yep," Arthur says, closing his eyes and resting his head on the wheel, sounding far too casual. "I'm freaking out. Just... give me a minute." He breathes deeply.

"You can have as many minutes as you want. I'll get us a room, okay?" She gives Lewis a stern look. "I mean it, the last thing we need is for you to explode again."

Lewis sits... sort of - does it count as sitting when you're floating in the air? - and curls his arms around his knees. " **...Fine.** " He fixes his worried gaze on Arthur.

"I'll watch them," Mystery offers.

Vivi leaves them to it, marching in and making the transaction as quickly as possible. She's pretty sure they've been overcharged but she's about to fuck up their door frames, so she figures it's even.

By the time she gets back Arthur has managed to peel himself out of the driver's seat. He hovers in the parking lot, frowning between it and the building. "How are we gonna...," his eyes flick to Lewis, "without being noticed?"

Her lips curl into a grin. She knows exactly what will cheer Arthur up. "Ghost disguise?" she offers innocently, pulling Lance's tarp out of a box.

\-----

Now that she knows the sigil patterns Vivi wastes no time scratching it into every entry and surface - _including the fucking roof_.

Arthur paces nervously, doing circuits of the small room and rubbing at his arms.

Lewis watches him go around and around, and it's not long before he reaches out. " **Can I touch now?** " he asks tentatively, and when Arthur nods he snatches him up, winding his arms around him, and his eyes go wide. " ** _Oh._ Oh, Artie...**"

"Today has not been a good day," Arthur mumbles into his jacket, and Lewis runs his hands over him carefully, checking him for injuries.

Vivi brushes the wood dust from her hands, sitting back on her heels. "Done. We're secure... for now."

"Shiromori will need at least a few days of recovery... I believe we have that long to make our plan," Mystery says ominously.

Lewis is watching her, staring weirdly. Has he forgotten he doesn't blink anymore? What does he-? _Oh._

Vivi walks into range and he immediately folds her in next to Arthur, giving her the same treatment. "I thought you could just... _tell_ if we were injured?" she says curiously.

Lewis hesitates, then resumes his inspection. " **I can. I'm just... _making sure_.**"

"We're not going home for a while, are we," Arthur says flatly, refusing to unbury himself from Lewis' chest. "I'll have to call Uncle Lance, tell him it's a Code Amber."

"No," Vivi sighs, leaning into the warm touches. _Is it weird to be enjoying this when I barely know the man? ...Eh._ "We can't go back until we've worked out how to stop her permanently. Mystery, how is she finding us?"

Mystery flicks an ear, muzzle wrinkling. "She has a... tracking ability. It works better when she's close, I believe."

"She'd find us if we went back, then. So we just have to keep moving?"

He shuffles, tail snapping back and forth restlessly. "That will work for a time. But we would have to be vigilant."

"She can't-" Arthur stutters for a moment, turning his head to stare at Mystery. "She's not- like that... that _whatever it was_ in the... in the forest? Cave? Right? She can't..." he flexes his metal arm, trailing off with a gulp, and Lewis curls him in closer, frantically petting down his spine.

"No," Mystery says firmly. "And regardless, Lewis will protect you from that now."

"Sure," Arthur winces, "but... he can't be around both of us _all_ the time."

Mystery blinks. "He doesn't have to. When I say he protects you both, I refer to the connection between you."

Vivi squints up at Lewis, and he shrugs. " **Explain that one to us?** "

Mystery huffs, shaking his head briefly. "It's as Vivi said before. You're connected to their _souls_ , anchored in their memories and emotions. That connection blocks any other source of spiritual invasion. There's... simply no room. I suppose that's the best way to explain it."

"Are... are you saying we're _possession-proof_?" Arthur gapes.

"Quite."

 _Holy shit_ , she thinks. _That's... huge._ "Ha, so we can go back to-" she cuts herself off, eyeing Lewis warily. "- _our investigation,_ " she says instead.

Lewis' eyes narrow anyway, but it's Arthur who speaks up first. "I'm kind of with Lewis on that one. I don't think it's a good idea."

"I'm open to suggestions," she says, "but I can't really think of a way around it. Besides, if you're so insistent on a _plan_ , we'll have _months_ to come up with something while we're running in circles..." she frowns in consternation. "...Away from a homicidal Japanese plant lady."

They all pause to consider that.

"...Alright, even for us I have to admit that's weird," Arthur says. "What is she even doing out here in the desert?"

" **I'll keep you safe. I promised you both I wouldn't leave you again and I _meant_ it.**" Lewis clutches them a little tighter, utterly sincere, and Vivi's hit with a sudden swell of gratitude at having him back. She has absolutely no memory of this man but it's like she's found something again, something precious that she hadn't even realised was missing. It feels _right_. Plus - if he hadn't been here...

All the pieces of her puzzle are starting to come together. The Case of the Missing Pepper, the memory loss, Arthur's injuries... _I'm still missing things,_ she thinks. _Great big chunks of this damn puzzle, in fact. But..._

Her eyes dart to Mystery. She's discovered secrets in the last few days she didn't even realise _existed_ \- she feels closer now to solving the mystery than she has in the past _year_.

One way or another, they'll have to go back to the cave-

.........the _cave_.

Vivi blinks, then blinks again, and bares her teeth in a sharklike smile. "I have an idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew!  
>   
> So, this fic is nearly complete! Next chapter will take place after a time skip and then we're going to see the fruits of their plots and plans..... _Hmmmm._ >:3  
>   
> I'm not done playing in this sandbox yet, though. I might do some oneshots set in this AU if anyone's interested?


	13. Ice is Also Great (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My deepest apologies for the delay on this chapter! It's actually in three (maybe four?!?) parts and my brain decided it wanted to write the heckin' thing backwards. (Don't ask.)  
>   
> On the bright side I have most of the other parts done so updates from here will be much quicker!  
>   
>  ~~...oh god why did I say that, I'm gonna bring the unfinished fic curse down on myself, everyone knock on wood sdfggdfhj~~

Lewis can barely believe how fast the months have flown.

Wasn't it only weeks ago that he found them again, half-crazed and barely holding himself together? Hasn't he only had weeks to hold them tight, let Vivi pepper him with questions, watch Arthur plan his newest projects?

For all his ghostly abilities, there are definitely some drawbacks. Time, he's discovered, slips through his fingers more often than not. Without a need to sleep or eat the days blur together, and he remains static against the flow of time. Vivi and Arthur have worked out ways around it, keeping him in the here-and-now with clocks and calendars and as much routine as they can manage while constantly on the move. It helps.

Lewis glares out the van window and checks the calendar again, just to make sure - and yes, it has indeed been months.

Almost a year, in fact, since they started their erratic, impromptu road trip across the country and back, avoiding Shiromori at every turn - though sometimes too narrowly for comfort - building their stores of equipment back up, scraping by on cases and stumbling over mysteries, learning each other all over again.

So much has happened, yet it feels like so little time.

And it's not enough - he needs more _time_. He needs to smother Vivi in kisses, he needs to completely eradicate the shadows in Arthur's eyes, he needs to refine his control over himself and his ghostly abilities...

...he needs to see his family again.

And yet here they are. Right back where it all... ended? Started?

It goes against all his instincts. His need to protect them, his fear of the cave, his hatred of the _thing_ lurking inside... They shouldn't _be here_. He has to make them _leave_...

One look at Vivi's face and he knows his case is hopeless.

Arthur stops the van in the centre of the clearing, throwing the parking break before looking around uneasily.

"Right," says Vivi, ever matter-of-fact. "Let's go over the plan one more time."

They've gone over it hundreds of times, refining it over the long months until they're all absolutely sure they've prepared for every possibility - and even some _impossibilities._ They know it like the backs of their hands by now, each of them probably able to recite it in their _sleep_.

All that, and they still nod grimly in response.

"Okay," Vivi breathes. "Everything's in place. Mystery and I altered the last sigil on the binding spell last month. Mystery?"

"I'll check it," he says immediately, springing down from the van and quickly vanishing into the scrub.

On an information-gathering trip back to the forest they'd uncovered the complex binding work, anchored into place around this very clearing. Mystery and Vivi have spent months picking apart its complex layers. According to Vivi's description, it's a strange, organic grid of sigils and spells, etched deep into the natural rock formations that dot the landscape. The resulting spiderlike web of energy has a very specific focal point.

A focal point they've just parked in front of.

Vivi rubs her forehead. "Moon phases. I still can't believe I missed that. I never thought to look up the _date_ you went missing, Lew, I should have thought of it earlier- we could have..."

Lewis takes her hand. " **Love, we've been over this. It's no one's fault. We have an agreement, remember, and you're just as banned from blaming yourself as Arthur is.** "

"Yeah. I guess." She squeezes his hand, shoulders sagging slightly before she shakes her head. "Anyway... well, the binding spell. So all the pieces out here are done, we just need to adjust the central point and then it'll be fixed... and ready."

"We really have to go inside, then," Arthur says, mouth set in a grim line.

"You really _don't_ have to, you know," Vivi points out. "I keep telling you that Mystery and I can go in and find the keystone while you watch up here for Shiromori."

" **And we keep telling you that's not going to happen,** " Lewis says firmly.

Vivi shrugs, but her eyes are suspiciously misty. "Okay then. We proceed as planned."

Mystery reappears from the woods, bounding back into the van. "All settled in nicely. It's a good, steady work."

"That's a relief," Vivi says dryly. "We don't have to live on the run for another year after all."

"Still not sure that isn't a better plan," Arthur says, then shrugs at Vivi's pointed glare.

"How long until our creeper vine arrives?" she asks Mystery.

He cocks his head to the side, staring off into nothing. "Perhaps an hour or two? She was close enough when we shook her off that she'll have our trail again by now."

"God I hope we've timed this right," Arthur says fretfully, glancing again at the empty clearing and then back to the van. "If one thing goes wrong-"

" **Then we retreat and try again.** " Lewis gently places a hand on his shoulder.

"Okay." Vivi takes a breath, letting it out slowly before continuing. "With the binding spell ready, we have our window of opportunity. We've got an hour or two to sneak in, break the curse on my memories, adjust the keystone sigils, and lure Shiromori in before the trap springs."

"While avoiding the _thing_ in there," Arthur adds.

Lewis nods fervently.

Vivi nods too. "If we can. Chances are it will come and find _us_. It might not be able to possess us this time, but... remember, don't trust anything you see."

" **Or hear,** " Lewis adds.

Vivi's gaze darts to him. "How's your connection feeling?"

Lewis holds his hands out toward them. " **Solid.** " _Very_ solid. They blaze like twin beacons to his ghostly senses, warm and comforting.

Vivi turns to Arthur. "And you've got all the gear?"

Arthur pats over his pockets, checking various devices and gadgets, then gives her a weak thumbs up.

"I'll take that as a yes," Vivi responds, taking her bat before climbing out of the van, shifting her feet almost nervously. "Alright. Any second now."

They all hover around the Mystery van, eyeing the treeline warily, straining to hear even the slightest sound.

And then the cave appears.

It's silent and unceremonious, popping into existence between one breath and the next as the moon reaches its peak, filling the clearing with a strange green glow.

If Lewis still had breath, he'd be holding it now.

...

None of them move.

"It's now or never," Mystery says. "And might I remind you that 'never' is a perfectly viable option-"

"Ooooh, for-" Vivi paces in a circle for a moment, then wheels around to face them. "We can do this. I'm going in there and I'm getting my memories back, even if I have to beat the shit out of a demon to do it. We stick together, and we stick to the plan, and _none of us are allowed to die._ "

"Inspiring," Arthur says dryly, his voice shaking a bit, and she deflates slightly.

"You really don't have to-" Vivi starts again, but Arthur cuts her off.

"Too late," he replies, moving forward.

There are only two reasons why Lewis would ever voluntarily set foot in that place again, and they're both marching right past him and into his worst nightmare.

\-----

The first chamber they find is extremely anticlimactic. Lewis' ghost-lights flare around the cavern ceiling, illuminating nothing but rocks and dust.

Lewis hovers next to Vivi, shadowing her so closely that he gets flicked by her scarf as she turns to look around. Mystery's opted to trail Arthur, almost under his feet as they carefully circuit the cavern.

"Nothing," Arthur says quietly, raising an eyebrow at Mystery. The not-dog gives a little headshake of agreement, and they all move on to the next.

"Anything look familiar?" Vivi asks Lewis, and he cringes slightly.

" ** _Yes._** " He's trying to be brave for both their sakes, but the further they get from the entrance, the shakier he feels. Sure, it looks like a cavern now, but it could shift and warp at any moment... He eyes the walls, half-expecting a painting or a chandelier to form out of the fog.

"How do we get to that big area you mentioned?"

Lewis hesitates, then points down.

It's an extremely tense walk down the makeshift paths, Lewis navigating them through several twists and turns. Mystery's hackles are soon up, and he seems to get slightly bigger with each chamber they cross.

"I almost _want_ something to happen," Arthur grumbles quietly. "It'd be better than this waiting. I'm going to have a heart attack before we even find anyth- ...oh."

They all stop, forming up tightly together. Arthur stares wide-eyed at the sign in the middle of the forked path. 'GO BACK', it screams in crudely-drawn letters, and below it in a much shakier hand - 'RUN'.

They all contemplate it for a moment. "Sound advice," Mystery comments wryly.

"Up or-?" Vivi starts to ask, and Lewis can't help it - he reaches out and yanks them away from the left-hand path.

" ** _Not left,_** " he hisses frantically as they both startle.

"Here," says Arthur, frowning at him in concern. "I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier." He gestures at the golden locket, and when Lewis hands it over he pulls out the cord, looping it around his neck. As he tucks it under his shirt Lewis can suddenly hear his heartbeat, thrumming faintly in the back of his mind, the pace a little fast but still strong and clear.

He feels... calmer, the faint pulse a constant, welcome reminder that he's no longer alone, trapped in the dark with only hallucinations for company...

"Down we go then," Vivi says, stroking down his arm sympathetically before once again hefting her bat.

The path is less of a path now, and more of a... lack of options, winding them down into the gloom and the chill, unmoving air. The further they get the more treacherous the footing becomes, narrowing in parts until they're moving single file, then opening out into sharp ridges and uneven crags.

Lewis leads the way, dreading every step but also wishing they could move _faster_ \- if they can just get Vivi's memories, he can herd them back out into the open air, never to return.

He's considering doing just that anyway when the path around them starts to become ominously familiar. He stops abruptly, Vivi crashing into him with an _oomph_. " **...Here.** "

Vivi tries to peer around him. "What? Here? Oh... you mean..."

He'd eventually told them about that... day. The day he... _woke_ , panicked and furious. It had taken several sessions and some very careful caretaking of his poor heart, but eventually he'd gotten the whole story out.

Before then, he'd never seen Arthur truly _angry_ before. He'd disappeared for three days straight and returned with the van full of parts, determined to ghost-proof the house and give Lewis back as much of his life as he could. He short-circuited seven cell phones before Lewis and Vivi eventually had to stage an intervention.

Lewis glances at Arthur and finds he's watching him carefully. "Alright?" he asks.

" **No,** " Lewis replies. " **Let's get this over with as quickly as possible.** "

He leads them out into the final, vast chamber of the cavern.

...He hates this place.

Vivi steps around him curiously, looking up at the towering stalagmites. He can practically see the thoughts flickering through her head as she takes in the ominous shapes, looming through the drifts of mist.

Something touches his hand and he startles badly, but it's only Arthur, slipping his hand into his and squeezing gently. Lewis gives him a rueful look in return. Okay... maybe he's more on edge than he thought.

"Mystery? Do you remember where we went? If this is the place I was cursed, there should be some sign or residue of it around here."

Mystery walks a tight circle around them. "We entered and went this way, I believe. Do be careful where you put your feet; I recall the floor was quite unsteady."

"We're not splitting up," says Arthur firmly.

Vivi immediately stops her search, coming back to them. "You're right. Let's all go together. Mystery, lead the way?"

It takes longer to cover all the ground in one group, but just the thought of what happened the last time they split up has Lewis shuddering. After some time, though, Vivi starts frowning.

"We should have found something by now. I... I don't think they're here." She tilts her head up, peering up toward the spiked ceiling of the cavern. "I think... we have to try the other path." She darts a glance at Arthur. "I can go without-"

"What did I just say? We're not splitting up! Besides, it can't get me again. It can't get any of us again." His grip on Lewis' hand tightens. "Let's get it over with."

They trudge back up silently. Lewis wonders how much time they have left.

All four of them give the signpost a wary look as they turn left, following the path around and up.

It's a much shorter walk this time. Three twists, a turn up and to the right, and then the path opens up into a wide ledge... right above where they were standing moments ago. The mist seems like it's glowing now, growing thicker, churning faster, until even Vivi seems unnerved.

Mystery barks a warning and Lewis jolts around, alarmed. Something's wrong. Something about the path, the cliff, it's _wrong_ , his instincts and memory screaming-

_Welcome back._

Vivi freezes in place, but Arthur jumps in fright, staring around wildly, his eyes rolling in panic. He takes an involuntary step back, trying to get away from that _voice_ , and lets out a sudden gasp. In front of Lewis' eyes he seems to tilt backwards, hands flying up as he tries to catch his balance.

Lewis lunges toward him. " **ARTHUR! _STOP!_** " His hand lashes out, catching the front of Arthur's shirt, clutching at the fabric in a desperate grab as Arthur teeters on the edge of the... floor?

 _The floor is wrong! It's an illusion!_ He _knew_ it, he's walked this cavern so many times - he should have seen that the edge was in the wrong place!

Arthur's shoes slowly slip down, seeming to drop _through_ the floor, and in a dizzying whirl of smoke the rocky floor flickers and disappears, revealing the fatal drop Arthur now hangs over, suspended from Lewis' hand.

Arthur glances down and gulps. The only thing stopping his fall is a handful of thin cotton and... Lewis.

Arthur's hand comes up slowly, clutching at Lewis' sleeve as his feet scrabble against the cliff face. "L-lewis?" he says, a gasp of breath, and Lewis tightens his grip until the fabric _creaks_.

It's all too familiar. Lewis' eyes are wide with fear, and for a horrible moment his arm won't move, frozen in place - but then he's hauling Arthur up, floating them away from the treacherous drop, almost strangling him in his haste to secure his hold.

Vivi breathes out in a whoosh. "That was... way too close."

Arthur pats at Lewis in relief, his soft laugh holding an edge of hysteria. "Holy shit. _Thank you._ "

" **I think I just died again,** " Lewis says faintly.

Arthur clutches at the locket, and he's not sure if he's comforting himself or Lewis. Maybe both.

"Alright," Vivi says breathlessly. "No one move unless you've tested the ground or you can defy gravity."

Lewis clutches Arthur tighter, wafting slowly back towards her as his eyes dart around searchingly.

_Bothersome, half-formed thing..._

They all freeze.

"Did you hear that?" Arthur asks, clutching nervously at his arm.

"Oh yes," Vivi says flatly.

The mist around them _shifts_.

A figure forms, towering even over Lewis, the sickly green haze shifting back and forth. _The demon._ All Lewis can make out is a pair of glowing green eyes, and... oh _god_. Is that...?

The green eyes narrow, and then another pair form out of the haze, snapping open.

And then another.

And another and another and _another_ , until they're surrounded by a hundred disembodied stares, glittering like emeralds in the gloom of the cavern.

They all shrink back in horror. The severed arm - _Arthur's arm_ , oh _god_ \- is the only human-looking thing about it.

_I SEE YOU._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've skipped a fair amount of time here, but some of the one-shots I write in this AU might be set during the uh, 'Enforced Roadtrip from Hell', as Vivi calls it...  
>   
> <_<;;;; more coming soon.  
>   
> P.S. Comments make the author... add more eyeballs? ~~Ew, maybe not.~~


	14. Ice is Also Great (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I have no words. Real life ate me, but it eventually spat me back out again and thus I give you this chapter.
> 
> Ahem. There's a bit of gore in this one, be warned.

Vivi's the first one to recover.

She steps forward, glaring over her glasses as she stares down the nearest set of eyes. "What are _you_ looking at?"

"Vivi!" Mystery hisses.

_FOOD._

The eyes blink, hundreds of sets flickering in unison.

Arthur shudders, still swept up in Lewis' arms. He tries not to focus on the sight of his _own arm_ , suspended oddly in the sickly green mist, instead turning to Lewis. The man's grip is tight around him, his pink fire hanging in static shards, seemingly frozen in something like panic.

Arthur's gaze wanders back seemingly of its own volition, staring at the limb in horrified fascination.

Vivi scoffs, but the sound is slightly less confident than usual. "I'm pretty hard to chew."

The mist creeps closer, swirling silently around her until her hair lifts in the eddies of the air currents. She irritably swats it away, hefting her bat and glaring. "You've got one chance to scat before I clobber you!"

There's a hissing noise, like oxygen escaping a tank, and Arthur realises the thing is _laughing_.

"Right, you asked for it!!" Vivi screeches, planting her feet solidly where she stands, swinging the bat back with a hissed breath of her own. Arthur hastily scrambles out of Lewis' arms, digging through his equipment.

Vivi swings, fingers white with the tightness of her grip, but the bat swipes straight through, the mist reforming around it like afterimages of green. Undaunted, Vivi reverses her grip and brings the dense wood crashing down on the cavern floor. As it impacts, a short, blinding flash of white hits the green mist like a physical blow, pushing it back.

It gathers.

_FOOLISH-_

The voice cuts off as Mystery darts in from the side, curving around to flank Vivi. Instead of dashing forward at the end of his charge he turns slightly aside, hurls his head back, and _howls_.

The echoes ring off the cavern walls, each bounce seeming to magnify the sound rather than dull it, and the green _flinches_ , rolling away-

-only to meet a wall of ghostly flame, licking almost to the ceiling, the colours clashing violently as pink fire forces green mist back, crowding it between light and sound, until the only opening left-

-the mist _surges_ , pressed almost into a tight cylinder, and darts forward the only way it can-

-and Arthur tosses a fragile bottle straight into its opaque depths.

There's a screech like metal on metal as the glass shatters, the liquid _splash_ almost unheard over the roar. Arthur's concoction sinks into the centre of the writhing mass, and with a faint _whud_ it collapses in on itself, shreds of green scattering as though a tornado were blowing it away.

In a matter of moments the air clears, the cavern returning to faint purple as Lewis' light shines off the slick walls.

They stand in their loose circle, eyes darting around as they glance at each other, until eventually Vivi lifts her bat, returning it to it's spot over her shoulder. "Anyone else think that was too easy?"

" **Definitely,** " Lewis mutters, staring up toward the ceiling in suspicion.

Arthur nods in agreement, digging around again until he's armed with a second bottle. He's never tested his 'demon bomb' recipe before, and until now he wasn't sure it would work. He feels... unbelievably relieved. _All the research in the world can't replace a proper experiment,_ he reflects, _no matter what Vivi says._

Mystery sniffs at the floor, tilting his head one way, then the other.

Vivi nudges him. "What's the verdict?"

"It smells... faintly of demon. But then," Mystery adds with a wrinkle of his muzzle, " _everything_ does."

Arthur pokes at the floor with the toe of his shoe. "Can we trust it?"

" **...For now, I think,** " Lewis says, leaving off his examination of the shadows up above and looking around again. " **Let's find these memories and get _out_ of here.**"

They move back together, circuiting the odd, rocky platform. It's nerve-wracking, trying to both search and keep an eye on any shadows that seem to move.

They're on round four when Vivi stops, stomping in frustration. "I don't understand. There's no sign of a curse. Not up here, not down there, not _anywhere_! Lewis, are you _sure_ there's no other parts to these caves?"

Lewis frowns at her, and she holds up her hands in surrender. "Just saying. They've got to be somewhere. They can't just be _gone_."

_gone..._

_...gone..._

Arthur pauses at the odd echo. "Please tell me that was one of you."

"No," Mystery growls lowly. "It's still here."

_..........just... gone..._

Arthur nearly backs away from the echo, but stops at the last second, glancing at the cavern floor behind him. No way is he repeating his earlier mistake.

"...Of course. Of course!" Vivi stiffens, tilting her head up to shout defiantly into the darkness. "You know what happened, don't you? What did you do?"

 _GONE,_ mock the shadows.

" **Don't listen to it,** " Lewis warns, and butt as he speaks tendrils start to climb across the floor, twisting up the walls in strange patterns and forming loops and whirls across the battered rock.

"You're not as big and powerful as you want us to think, are you?" Vivi taunts. "Hiding in the shadows, possessing people. But that wasn't enough, was it? Why did you take my memories? Why did you kill Lewis? What was the _point?_ " she yells in frustration.

A single set of eyes open, glittering in the dark, and Arthur nearly steps back _again_ as they focus on him.

_DESPAIR_

There's a low growl from around his knees and he glances down to see Mystery plant himself behind him, pressing his weight against him so Arthur can't move back-

...but the eyes are already shifting to Vivi.

_GRIEF_

Lewis snarls, flinging up another wall of fire, but the mist snakes its way through undeterred, winding near his feet.

_BETRAYAL_

Lewis yanks himself away, drifting higher, and the hissing shadows seem to _snicker_.

_T A S T Y !_

"Get away from him!" Vivi shouts, dashing forward with her bat and sweeping it ineffectually through the clouds of green. "Give my memories back or _so help me_ , I'll grind you into powder!"

 _GONE,_ the voice hisses smugly.

"What do you mean?!" Vivi demands hotly. "Gone _where_?"

In an instant the air turns sickly emerald, not a mist this time but something stronger and thicker, a solid wall of cloud that storms through.

_I_  
_A T E_  
_T H E M!_

Vivi gasps, her hands curling into fists as her face turns pale-

" **Vivi, _look out-!_** "

-and a green arm, wrapped in a familiar, bedraggled wristband, lunges out of the cloud and shoves her off her feet. Vivi stumbles back, shadows fragmenting around her feet, her arms windmilling-

\- and then she topples through the floor.

 _No. No, not Vivi, NOT HER-_ "LEWIS! GO!" he shouts, but he's already gone, pelting down after her so quickly he leaves purple after-images behind Arthur's eyes.

Arthur goes to lunge after them and immediately snaps back into place - fuck, the _floor_. How is he supposed to follow them if he can't move? One wrong step and he's off the cliff too, and Lewis can't be in two places at once-

The green gathers, coiling up menacingly.

Ohhh no. Nope. No. Oh, he is so not doing this - he's only here because of Vivi, he's not strong enough to do this alone, of _course_ their plans have gone to shit, they _always do_ -

Panicked, he tries to step back and nearly goes sprawling over Mystery - he'd forgotten he was braced against his knees, wedging him firmly in place.

"Watch your _step_ ," Mystery says tightly, eyeing the jagged hole where Vivi fell - and the green mess between them.

...Maybe Arthur's not alone after all.

He clutches that thought to him as the air glows sickly emerald. Mystery growls low in his throat, the buzz of it echoing through Arthur's bones, and snaps at the air.

_keep your teeth, SHAPESHIFTER, they'll do no harm NOW_

The shadows press in around him, shreds of them whipping at his skin. Arthur ineffectually bats them away, but more and more fly out of the mist. Mystery snaps futilely at the air, teeth snapping right through as though he's biting at real cloud.

Undeterred, the tendrils gather, coiling up to lash at his face-

-only to bounce straight off, flicking around in frustrated circles until the colours shift and he's once again staring into furious eyes, way too close for comfort.

Arthur stares at them, pleading desperately in the blessed privacy of his own head - he knows that his connection to Lewis means the thing can't _get_ him again, but he'd hoped he'd never had to test that theory.

_l e t m e IN-_

"Absolutely _never_ ," Arthur gasps out.

_DIE THEN_

"Time to go!" Mystery snaps, and Arthur doesn't need telling twice - he takes off after the small white shape, tracing Mystery's steps as closely as he can.

 _Oh fuck I hope Vivi is okay. Oh fuck I'm being chased through a dark cave by a shadow demon who wants to eat me. I hope_ I'm _going to be okay - where the fuck am I even going?_

As he stumbles along the path the shadows become stronger and stronger, until he can barely make out the dim white gleam of Mystery's fur. "Mystery," he hisses quietly, "wait, I can't _see_ -"

He's just beginning to panic when darkness falls like a curtain, wholly impenetrable. Arthur grinds to a halt, spinning frantically on the spot, trying to see something, _anything_.

"...Mystery? Mystery, where- Lewis!"

" **Arthur!** " Lewis says, eyes bright with relief. " **Quickly, this way!** "

Arthur takes a single, automatic step forward and freezes. "Wait. Where's Vivi? What happened?"

" **She's fine. This way!** "

Arthur's eyes narrow, his feet rooting him to the spot. "What's the date today?"

Lewis stares at him. " **What? Arthur, come _on_ , quickly-**"

"What did we have for breakfast this morning?"

" **What is _wrong_ with you? Now's not the time-**"

"Actually, now is _exactly_ the time, and Lewis knows it." Arthur gulps, staring warily at... obviously-not-Lewis. "That's trick's so old it creaks."

Lewis' features grow suddenly menacing and he _hisses_ , fangs tipped toward him as he rears up to his full height, towering above him.

It would be terrifying - _was_ terrifying, once - but that was before he'd spent a year getting used to him, new form and abilities and all. If the past year has taught him anything, it's that Lewis may have changed, but he's still unequivocally _Lewis_.

Arthur quirks a wry smile, remembering the last time he saw him snarl like that. From memory, he'd taken up knitting and tried to make Vivi a scarf.

"Sorry," he says flatly. "Not scary."

" **No?** " not-Lewis says idly, dropping back to the floor. " **How about this then?** "

Arthur braces himself, ready for the next trick as the purple-green light gathers around the illusion of his friend and forms-

...Lewis. Again. Only now he looks perfectly, normally, achingly _alive_. Arthur stares. He... wasn't expecting that, and his heart gives a sudden wrench at the sight.

Lewis blinks back, then suddenly smiles. It's a delighted, happy grin, one Arthur's seen a thousand times before, but right now it's chillingly out of place against the swirling dark.

"Arthur!" not-Lewis says again, the tone bright and clear, and Arthur hasn't heard his voice like that since-

Since he-

Dread settles like a stone in his stomach.

"Do you miss me?"

Arthur swallows. "You're not Lewis."

"Do you miss me like this?" the illusion plucks at a puffy sleeve, inspecting his clothes. They're dusty, Arthur realises, patches of soot staining the left wrist. As though he'd been trekking through a cave, holding an old-fashioned torch. "Hm. I'm so very _young_ , aren't I?"

_It's not him. It isn't._

"Pity," it says, and then gasps, lavender eyes going wide with shock as his hands fly up to his chest.

The stone in Arthur's stomach turns into a hot spike, twisting horribly, and Arthur forces himself not to reach out, even as red blooms across his- _it's_ \- shirt.

"I don't blame you, you know," it chokes out, slumping to its knees, spattering the floor with red. "There's nothing you could do."

" _Stop_ ," Arthur says, covering his face. He won't watch this. It _isn't Lewis_ -

He can't stop his hands shaking, can't help wondering if this was really how he looked when-

 _Stop it, stop it, it's not_ real!

"Nothing at all." There's a horrible cough, wet and wretched, and Arthur tries to block his ears. "Nothing you could do to stop it. It killed me, and it will kill you too, because you're to _O WEAK_ -"

"ENOUGH!" Arthur yells, his heart shattering, and opens his eyes to blackness. Demons are supposed to _lie_ , but... hasn't he thought the same thing of himself a hundred times over-? Too weak to even _remember_ properly-

He feels a snatch of teeth at his throat and flails out, knocking them away and dropping to the ground in a defensive curl.

There's an inhuman snarl, reverberating through the darkness until it seems to come from everywhere at once - Arthur curls up tighter. He was never meant to be on his own, they were supposed to stick together- he can't do this. He's too weak and _he can't do this_ -

The teeth snap at him again and Arthur _kicks_ , lashing out with feet and fists, suddenly and abruptly furious. He can't run or he'll _fall_ but he's damned if he won't go out fighting - he's not going to just roll over and let the thing eat him. He thinks despairingly of Vivi, hoping against hope that Lewis- the _real_ Lewis- was in time-

Another sharp _snap_ has him flinching back, and he throws his arm over his head-

-and feels a tentative lick against the back of his hand, almost... _apologetic_. Something about it seems familiar, burning through the panic and reminding him of... cookies...?

_Cookies?_

...of sneaking cookies under the table to feed to-

"...Mystery?" he breathes, and once again feels the brush of teeth - but they're buried gently in his sleeve, tugging him urgently to his feet.

Not a monster after all.

Just a friend, trying to help. He reaches out hesitantly, feeling around with shaky hands until he finds long fur, tracing it up - up, _up_ \- to a thin leather band. There's a blast of hot breath on his face, then a wet nose presses into his temple.

Arthur sinks his hands into Mystery's fur and just... breathes.

Eventually, Mystery shuffles, and Arthur gives a weak chuckle. "Gone full fox again, huh?" he says, and once again feels teeth in his sleeve, tugging him along. "Alright... I trust your senses better than mine, I guess. Can't even see a giant kitsune in front of my face."

Gathering the very last shreds of his frayed nerves, he hooks his fingers into Mystery's collar and follows him blindly into the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, I'm really sorry about the delay. I solemnly swear I will try my utmost to have the next chapter up in less than a week. _Cross my heart_.  
>   
> P.S. Comments are probably undeserved at this point but if you have pity on a poor writer I will be forever thankful!


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